Blogs

Approaching Ceres: one bright spot turns into two

Seeing Ceres: Then and Now

Paul Gilster • March 06, 2015 •

Technology writer Paul Gilster shares his interest in how we depict astronomical objects, focusing on the dwarf planet Ceres.

Bruce Betts screen shot teaching CSUDH Introductory Astronomy class with Saturn in background.

Intro Astronomy Class 6: Mars (continued) and Asteroids

Bruce Betts • March 14, 2014

Continue exploring Mars and learn about asteroids in this video of class 6 of Bruce Betts' Introduction to Planetary Science and Astronomy class.

DPS 2013: The fascination of tiny worlds

Emily Lakdawalla • October 17, 2013 •

In which I summarize Joe Veverka's Kuiper Prize talk at the Division for Planetary Sciences meeting: "Small is NOT Dull: Unravelling the Complexity of Surface Processes on Asteroids, Comets and Small Satellites."

Asteroids and comets visited by spacecraft as of December 2012, in color, excepting Vesta [DEPRECATED]

My ever-popular asteroids-and-comets montage, now in color, with bonus Toutatis

Emily Lakdawalla • December 18, 2012 •

My collage of all the asteroids and comets visited by spacecraft is probably the single most popular image I have ever posted on this blog. I've now updated it to be in color and to include Toutatis.

LPSC 2011: Day 1: Small bodies

Emily Lakdawalla • March 08, 2011

Here are some of the noteworthy items from the morning's session on "Small Bodies: A Traverse from NEOs to TNOs" and the afternoon's session on "Asteroid Geophysics and Processes: Surfaces and Interiors."

Door 27 in the 2010 advent calendar

Emily Lakdawalla • December 27, 2010

Time to open the twenty-seventh door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this flat-floored depression?

Boulders and Ponds on 433 Eros

Emily Martin • December 13, 2010

There is really cool geology being explored on large, oddly shaped asteroids. The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission reached 433 Eros in 2000, and one of the exciting results was the discovery of features called "ponds".