Zwicky Transient Facility

The discovery image (taken by the Zwicky Transient Facility) of the asteroid 2020 QG shows it as a streak, its motion blurring it during the exposure. Credit: ZTF/Caltech Optical Observatories

A small asteroid called 2020 QC just gave Earth the closest near-miss ever seen

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

The orbit of the asteroid 2019 LF6 around the Sun takes it closer than Mercury and just farther out than Venus. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

2019 LF6: The asteroid with the shortest year known

By Phil Plait 2 years ago

A fanciful depiction of the near-Venus asteroid 2019 AQ3, with the asteroid Itokawa standing in for AQ3. Credits: Itokawa: JAXA; Venus: Damian Peach; Mosaic: Phil Plait

A new telescope spots a very rare near-Venus asteroid

By Phil Plait 3 years ago

The Orion Nebula shows up in just a tiny piece of the massive Zwicky Transient Facility image of the constellation. Credit: Caltech Optical Observatories

A new observatory keeps a very, very large eye on the sky

By Phil Plait 4 years ago