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Ryugu

Artwork showing Hayabusa2 arriving at the tiny asteroid Ryugu. Credit: Akihiro Ikeshita

Sunlight forces tiny asteroids to get rid of their dust bunnies

Small asteroid surfaces are dustless, possibly because they're zapped by UV light.
By Phil Plait 10 months ago
The asteroid Ryugu from 20 kilometers away. Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu and AIST

Ryugu was born an asteroid, became a comet, and died an asteroid

Asteroid dates to just after the formation of the solar system itself.
By Phil Plait 11 months ago
Liz Asteroid GETTY

OSIRIS-REx is now going to go asteroid hopping to the space rock that once threatened Earth

Yes, that asteroid. 
By Elizabeth Rayne 1 year ago
The asteroid Ryugu from 20 kilometers away. Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu and AIST

Is Ryugu a dead comet masquerading as an asteroid?

The near-Earth object looks like an asteroid but may be an ice-free comet
By Phil Plait 1 year ago
Liz Asteroid Ryugu NASA PRESS

Ryugu’s cosmic dust is some of the oldest stuff in the universe 

When scientists say an asteroid has “some of the most primordial material ever examined,” it’s for real.
By Elizabeth Rayne 1 year ago
Liz Ryogu Sample PRESS

NASA got a Ryugu sample, and it could be a time capsule of the solar system

NASA now has a rare sample from Asteroid Ryugu, and the secrets of the solar system might be hiding in there.
By Elizabeth Rayne 1 year ago
192 seconds after the impact of a slug shot by Hayabusa2 a crater forms on the asteroid Ryugu. Credit: Arakawa et al.

Watch as Hayabusa2 blasts a 17.6-meter-wide crater into an asteroid

By Phil Plait 3 years ago
Ryugu

Guy walks out to his front yard, finds a rock from the birth of the solar system

By Elizabeth Rayne 3 years ago
A 3D model of the surface of the asteroid Ryugu created from Hayabusa2 data. Note that in frame A, the rock Catafo Saxum sits right in the center, marking the meridian (0° longitude) of Ryugu. Credit: Watanabe et al.

Ryugu’s history has been… weird

By Phil Plait 3 years ago
Artwork showing Hayabusa2 arriving at the tiny asteroid Ryugu. Credit: Akihiro Ikeshita

Hayabusa2 is leaving the asteroid Ryugu and heading back to Earth

By Phil Plait 3 years ago
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