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A full disc view of Bennu, whoing its surface littered with giant boulders.

Asteroids, Comets & Meteors

Our solar system's small bodies pack outsized intrigue

Asteroids

Rocky leftovers from planet formation.

Comets

Cosmic snowballs of gas and dust.

Meteors

Bits of debris that fall through the atmosphere.

Seal shows a guard in a castle turret using a telescope to watch out for asteroids and comets in the sky.

Planetary Defense

Protect Earth from impacts.

Overview

Asteroids, comets, and meteors are chunks of rock, ice, and metal left over from the formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.

COMET 3i/atlas

Interstellar Comet, Passing Through the Solar System

Only the third known object to venture into our solar system from interstellar space, Comet 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth, but is taking a tour past our celestial neighbors. NASA has been studying the icy visitor with space telescopes including Hubble, Webb, and SPHEREx. The comet passed Mars on Oct. 3, continued its trajectory to pass behind the Sun in late October, and venture past Jupiter in March 2026, on its way out of our solar system.

Learn More About Comet 3I/ATLAS

Asteroids and Comets

Latest Count

Get an up-to-date count of asteroids and comets in our solar system.

Eyes on Asteroids

Explore the 3D world of asteroids, comets, and NEOs. Learn about past and future missions, tracking and predicting orbits, and close approaches to Earth.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Asteroid News

NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Snaps Photos of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX Spacecraft to Slingshot Past Earth

What Webb Is Teaching Us About Our Solar System

Regions on Asteroid Explored by NASA’s Lucy Mission Get Official Names

Close-Up Views of NASA’s DART Impact to Inform Planetary Defense

Asteroid and Comet Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of resources, including activities that can be done at home, as well as videos and animations, images, handouts, and online interactives. This resource package is suitable for educators, students, and anyone interested in learning more about asteroids and comets!

Two images of two gray colored asteroids. One of the space rocks is much larger.

A pair of stereoscopic images of the asteroid Dinkinesh and its satellite, Selam, created using data collected by the L’LORRI camera on NASA's Lucy spacecraft in the minutes around closest approach on Nov. 1, 2023.

NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab for the original images/Brian May/Claudia Manzoni for stereo processing of the images.

More Resources

Lucy_Eyes-640x480

Lucy Mission Resource Package

Activities that can be done at home as well as videos, animations, stories, and articles.

Whimsical cartoon of girl and her dog watching a meteor shower.

For Kids: Asteroids, Comets & Meteors

Facts and activities for K-4 explorers.

two rocky asteroids in black space

NASA Photojournal: Small Bodies

Shooting stars are actually bits of debris that fall through our atmosphere.

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Pluto

Kuiper Belt

Oort Cloud

Skywatching