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Article
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The Dimorphos ejecta plume properties revealed by LICIACube
Dimorphos ejecta plume properties were revealed by the observations from the LICIACube cube satellite, which was deployed 15 days in advance of the impact of DART.
- E. Dotto
- , J. D. P. Deshapriya
- & M. Zannoni
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News |
‘Head-scratcher’: first look at asteroid dust brought to Earth offers surprises
Researchers have begun examining the pristine space rocks collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.
- Alexandra Witze
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News |
NASA’s Psyche mission is on its way to this huge metal asteroid
The space rock — possibly the exposed core of a planet that didn’t finish forming — could reveal details about the Solar System’s origins.
- Alexandra Witze
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Nature Podcast |
This isn’t the Nature Podcast — how deepfakes are distorting reality
The rise of AI-generated fakes, evidence of the earliest-known wooden structure, and how NASA’s OSIRIS-REx brought asteroid samples back to Earth.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Benjamin Thompson
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News |
Special delivery! Biggest-ever haul of asteroid dust and rock returns to Earth
Samples collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission excite scientists with their potential to reveal secrets of the Solar System.
- Alexandra Witze
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World View |
Bringing space rocks back to Earth could answer some of life’s biggest questions
Safe delivery of samples from an asteroid on 24 September will be the start of a global scientific journey — but similar missions need support.
- Meenakshi Wadhwa
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Nature Index |
How China is capturing attention with landmark research
From ancient sea species to clues on comets, papers by the country’s talented scientists are regularly making headlines.
- Gemma Conroy
- , Pratik Pawar
- & Sian Powell
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Article
| Open Access
Spectroscopic identification of water emission from a main-belt comet
Using James Webb Space Telescope observations, spectroscopic identification of a coma of water vapour but no significant CO2 gas coma is found for the main-belt comet 238P/Read, indicating water–ice sublimation.
- Michael S. P. Kelley
- , Henry H. Hsieh
- & Heidi B. Hammel
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News |
Hard feelings over mission change for NASA’s Pluto spacecraft
US space agency plans to shift the New Horizons planetary probe to studying heliophysics, and some scientists don’t agree.
- Alexandra Witze
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News & Views |
DART’s data verify its smashing success at deflecting asteroid moon Dimorphos
A strategy for deflecting asteroids on a path towards Earth has passed its first test. The results confirm predictions about how asteroids respond to impact — and offer useful insights.
- Coralie D. Adam
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News & Views |
A compelling explanation for the enigmatic small object ‘Oumuamua
Seemingly contradictory observations of the first known interstellar object are reconciled in a model that presents a simple and physically realistic framework for understanding the object’s many peculiarities.
- Marco Micheli
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Article |
Acceleration of 1I/‘Oumuamua from radiolytically produced H2 in H2O ice
Acceleration of ‘Oumuamua is due to the release of entrapped molecular hydrogen formed through energetic processing of an H2O-rich icy body, supporting the idea that it originated as a planetesimal relic similar to Solar System comets.
- Jennifer B. Bergner
- & Darryl Z. Seligman
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Editorial |
Asteroid collision shows how much amateur astronomers have to offer
Astronomy, like other scientific fields, continues to benefit from working scientists collaborating with amateur colleagues.
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Article
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Orbital period change of Dimorphos due to the DART kinetic impact
The 33 minute change in the orbital period of Dimorphos after the DART kinetic impact suggests that ejecta contributed a substantial amount of momentum to the asteroid compared with the DART spacecraft alone.
- Cristina A. Thomas
- , Shantanu P. Naidu
- & Harrison F. Agrusa
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Article
| Open Access
Light curves and colours of the ejecta from Dimorphos after the DART impact
Optical observations of Dimorphos, a satellite of the asteroid 65803 Didymos, before, during and after the impact of the DART spacecraft, from a network of citizen science telescopes across the world are reported.
- Ariel Graykowski
- , Ryan A. Lambert
- & Ian M. Transom
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Article
| Open Access
Successful kinetic impact into an asteroid for planetary defence
The impact of the DART spacecraft on the asteroid Dimorphos is reported and reconstructed, demonstrating that kinetic impactor technology is a viable technique to potentially defend Earth from asteroids.
- R. Terik Daly
- , Carolyn M. Ernst
- & Yun Zhang
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Article
| Open Access
Ejecta from the DART-produced active asteroid Dimorphos
Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope reveal a complex evolution of the ejecta produced by the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacting Dimorphos.
- Jian-Yang Li
- , Masatoshi Hirabayashi
- & Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez
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Article
| Open Access
Momentum transfer from the DART mission kinetic impact on asteroid Dimorphos
The authors report on a determination of the momentum transferred to an asteroid by kinetic impact, showing that the DART kinetic impact was highly effective in deflecting the asteroid Dimorphos.
- Andrew F. Cheng
- , Harrison F. Agrusa
- & Giovanni Zanotti
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Article |
A dense ring of the trans-Neptunian object Quaoar outside its Roche limit
The authors report observations of a dense and inhomogeneous ring at a surprisingly large distance from the trans-Neptunian body Quaoar.
- B. E. Morgado
- , B. Sicardy
- & J. de Wit
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News & Views |
From the archive: growing seeds by moonlight, and a shower of stars at sea
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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News Round-Up |
Asteroid diversion, economics Nobel and recycling plastics
The latest science news, in brief.
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News & Views |
From the archive: how spiders might turn accurately, and a sparkly meteor
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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News |
Renowned Arecibo telescope won’t be rebuilt — and astronomers are heartbroken
The US National Science Foundation has decided to instead open an educational centre at the site.
- Alexandra Witze
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News |
Smashing success: humanity has diverted an asteroid for the first time
NASA confirms that its DART spacecraft ‘nudged’ the asteroid Dimorphos into a new orbit.
- Rahul Rao
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Editorial |
Deflecting asteroids is not enough — we need to know when they approach
After NASA’s DART asteroid-deflection experiment, a fully funded telescope for detecting space rocks is an equally pressing priority.
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News |
Fresh images reveal fireworks when NASA spacecraft ploughed into asteroid
Astronomers are ‘stoked’ as data pour in from the celestial crash.
- Alexandra Witze
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News |
This spacecraft just smashed into an asteroid in an attempt to change its path
NASA’s DART mission is testing whether humanity could deflect a space rock if it were going to hit Earth.
- Alexandra Witze
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News |
NASA’s Artemis Moon mission is set to launch: here’s the science on board
The most powerful rocket ever built will soon head for the Moon, carrying with it a trove of satellites and radiation experiments.
- Alexandra Witze
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News Round-Up |
Biggest bacterium, comet capture and growing deserts
The latest science news, in brief.
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Article |
Sublimation-driven convection in Sputnik Planitia on Pluto
A modelling study describing the formation of the polygonal surface structures in Sputnik Planitia on Pluto shows that convection driven by ice sublimation can generate planetary-scale surface patterns.
- Adrien Morison
- , Stéphane Labrosse
- & Gaël Choblet
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News |
Asteroid deflection and disordered diamonds — the week in infographics
Nature highlights three key infographics from the week in science and research.
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News |
NASA spacecraft will slam into asteroid in first planetary-defence test
The DART mission has launched. Next up, it will try out a manoeuvre that could one day deflect killer asteroids from Earth.
- Alexandra Witze
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News Round-Up |
COVID reinfections, asteroid mission and tuskless elephants
The latest science news, in brief.
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News |
First mission to Jupiter’s asteroids could reveal Solar System origins
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will loop past the never-before-explored ‘Trojan’ asteroids during a 12-year journey.
- Alexandra Witze
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Article |
Fine-regolith production on asteroids controlled by rock porosity
The absence of fine regolith on the asteroid Bennu is due to the high porosity of its rocks, which compress rather than fragment after impacts and exhibit slow thermal cracking.
- S. Cambioni
- , M. Delbo
- & D. S. Lauretta
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Obituary |
Carolyn S. Shoemaker (1929–2021)
Co-discoverer of first comet known to collide with a planet in modern times.
- David H. Levy
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News & Views |
Iron and nickel vapours are present in most comets
The detection of iron and nickel vapours in a broad range of Solar System comets, and of nickel vapour in a comet from outside the Solar System, provides a glimpse into the organic chemistry of young planetary systems.
- Dennis Bodewits
- & Steven J. Bromley
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Article |
Iron and nickel atoms in cometary atmospheres even far from the Sun
High-resolution ultraviolet and optical spectra of a large sample of comets show that Fe i and Ni i lines are ubiquitous, even when the comets are far from the Sun.
- J. Manfroid
- , D. Hutsemékers
- & E. Jehin
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Article |
Gaseous atomic nickel in the coma of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov
Atomic nickel vapour is found in the cold coma of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov at a distance of 2.3 astronomical units, equivalent to an equilibrium temperature of 180 kelvin.
- Piotr Guzik
- & Michał Drahus
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Nature Podcast |
The AI that argues back
A computer that can participate in live debates against human opponents.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Shamini Bundell
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News |
Record number of asteroids seen whizzing past Earth in 2020
Despite pandemic disruption, astronomers detected thousands of previously unknown near-Earth asteroids last year.
- Alexandra Witze
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News |
Asteroid dust recovered from Japan’s daring Hayabusa2 mission
Scientists hope the dark grains from asteroid Ryugu will improve their understanding of the Solar System’s formation.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
2020 beyond COVID: the other science events that shaped the year
Mars missions, record-breaking wildfires and a room-temperature superconductor are among this year’s top non-COVID stories.
- Davide Castelvecchi
- , Jeff Tollefson
- & Alexandra Witze
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News |
Legendary Arecibo telescope will close forever — scientists are reeling
New satellite image reveals the damage that shut down the facility, ending an era in astronomical observation.
- Alexandra Witze
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News & Views |
Eye of a skull reveals details of cometary materials
The Philae spacecraft was meant to anchor itself to the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, but instead bounced into a hidden grotto. The telltale markings of its passage reveal details of the comet’s fragile boulders.
- Erik Asphaug
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News Round-Up |
Asteroid ‘fist bump’, pooling COVID tests and open-access deal
The latest science news, in brief.
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Article |
The Philae lander reveals low-strength primitive ice inside cometary boulders
When the Philae lander bounced on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, it exposed primitive icy-dust material within cometary boulders; the intrinsic strength and porosity of this material is reported.
- Laurence O’Rourke
- , Philip Heinisch
- & Holger Sierks
Did ‘alien’ debris hit Earth? Startling claim sparks row at scientific meeting
Accelerating ‘Oumuamua with H2 is challenging
Asteroid smash and poaching decline