A weak magnetic field likely attracted matter inward, contributing to the formation of the outer planetary bodies, from ...

YR4, which orbits the sun every four years and periodically crosses Earth's orbit. The nature of its orbit makes it a ...

Analysis of samples brought back to Earth from the asteroid Bennu reveal that it has a bizarre chemical make-up and is ...

uracil and nicotinic acid were detected in the samples from asteroid Ryugu, but the other four nucleobases were absent. The difference in abundance and complexity of N-heterocycles between Bennu ...

"Scientifically there's a huge amount we can learn from asteroids," says Alan Fitzsimmons, an astronomer at Queens University ...

A previous sample from 162173 Ryugu, a diamond-shaped asteroid, contained myriad organic compounds, including vitamin B3 and uracil, the additional nucleobase used in RNA. Like Ryugu, Bennu is a ...

The researchers plan to compare the Ryugu sample with that taken from the asteroid Bennu when NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returns to Earth later this year. Joshua Hawkins Writer Josh Hawkins has ...

The samples from Bennu also seem to be richer in volatiles than samples taken from the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Hayabusa2 probe. One key finding announced was related to the chirality ...

New observations of a small asteroid discovered in December have led astronomers to conclude that the chances of it striking ...

The asteroid Bennu has been at the centre of scientific discussions recently, especially after researchers analysed surface samples collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. While much of the ...