Explore 3D models of two of our Solar System's asteroids.
Asteroid Family Shattered Past Artist Concept (2013-05-29) by NASA/JPL-CaltechNASA
Asteroids are small, airless planetesimals—a term for minor planets leftover from the birth of our Solar System.
Epsilon Eridani Inner Asteroid Belt (2017-09-14) by NASA and SOFIA/Lynette CookNASA
They revolve around the Sun in the same direction as planets, following approximately elliptical, stable orbits. However, beyond these parallels, the similarities between asteroids and planets are limited.
The Spacious Structure of Asteroid 2011 MD Artist Concept (2014-06-19) by NASA/JPL-CaltechNASA
Asteroids are much tinier than planets and exhibit various shapes and sizes with aspect ratios unlike any other objects observed in our Solar System.
On the Way to Ceres Artist Concept (2013-12-03) by NASA/JPL-CaltechNASA
They range from rocks a few meters across to larger bodies like Ceres, stretching almost 1000 kilometers across (about one-fourth the size of the Moon). Learn more about Ceres here.
CeresNASA
Ceres
Explore this 3D model of Ceres.
Asteroid Ida and Its Moon (1996-02-01) by NASA/JPLNASA
While their small, dark bodies are challenging to image, scientists have used tools like doppler delay radar and 3D modeling to reveal a collection of gnarled, rough, and odd objects.
ErosNASA
Some of the strangest shapes include a dog bone, irregular potato, and long cigar. Studies suggest that impacts and the low surface gravity of asteroids may contribute to these strange forms. Explore this 3D model of Eros.
Double the Rubble Artist Concept (2008-10-27) by NASA/JPL-CaltechNASA
Most of these objects exist between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt. Learn more about the asteroid belt here.
Vesta Sizes Up (2011-07-18) by NASA/JPL-Caltech/JAXA/ESANASA
Asteroid 4 Vesta
This image shows 4 Vesta's massive relative size. Learn more about 4 Vesta here.
Explore this 3D model of Vesta and learn more about NASA's Dawn mission here.
OSIRIS-RExNASA
The Dawn of Asteroid Missions
Recent missions, including two Japanese missions and NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex, have gotten up close and personal with asteroids unlike ever before, collecting samples from the rocky surfaces to bring back to Earth for examination.
BennuNASA
The first U.S. asteroid-sampling mission, OSIRIS-REx, made contact on October 20, 2020, with its long-awaited destination: the asteroid Bennu.
OSIRIS-REx Liftoff (2016-09-08) by NASA/Kim ShiflettNASA
The moment represented the culmination of over four years of flying through space, traveling more than 500 million miles from Earth to touch the treacherous surface of Bennu for a few brief seconds.
Murchison MeteoriteSmithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Bennu fits into a particular class of asteroids deemed “carbonaceous near-Earth asteroids” – a geologist’s label for asteroids containing large amounts of carbon molecules. This image features the Murchison Meteorite — a carbonaceous chondrite.
Learn more about carbonaceous chondrites here.
BENNU’S JOURNEY - Early Earth (2017-12-08)NASA
The scientific motivation behind missions to these dusty space rocks largely stems from what they can reveal about the origins of the Solar System.
BENNU’S JOURNEY - Impacts (2017-12-08)NASA
As some of the earliest known bodies available for study, carbonaceous asteroids like Bennu are significant because they have not undergone any extreme, composition-altering changes.
Building Planets Through Collisions Artist Concept (2014-08-28) by NASA/JPL-CaltechNASA
This history of preservation is critical for determining the chemical mixtures and conditions from which planets like Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago.
BENNU’S JOURNEY - Heavy Bombardment (2017-12-08)NASA
Asteroids like Bennu are some of the closest bodies in the Solar System to a time capsule, preserved through time as they moved through the vacuum of space.
Art By. (1991-04-08)NASA
Additionally, as these objects have collided with Earth and impacted the surface, they can provide clues for determining how they modified our planet’s biosphere throughout geologic history.
For example, during the early Solar System, asteroid and comet impacts may have delivered the carbon-based molecules and volatile materials that formed the building blocks of life.
Artist's Concept of Psyche Spacecraft with Five-Panel Array (2017-05-23) by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State Univ./Space Systems Loral/Peter RubinNASA
As missions return samples to Earth and new spacecraft depart for uncharted asteroids, these ancient rocks will continue to shape our understanding of Earth, the Solar System, and beyond.
