#planetary-defense

Asteroid 2026JH2, estimated at 16 to 36 meters across, is expected to pass Earth at about 90,917 kilometers on May 18, a close approach that astronomers say is dramatic but not dangerous.

A five-year review of ESA’s 24/7 impact-monitoring system says MeerKAT successfully warned of all seven imminent impactors detected in advance, underscoring how planetary defense is shifting toward faster automated alert

NASA’s dedicated asteroid-hunting space telescope is being assembled for a planned September 2027 launch, aiming to find dark and sun-hidden near-Earth objects that ground-based surveys often miss.

Using early survey data collected before the start of its flagship sky-mapping campaign, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has already added 11,000 newly identified asteroids to the Solar System inventory.

When asteroid Apophis makes its closest-ever approach to Earth in April 2029, it will be met by multiple spacecraft — including private landers — in what will be the most ambitious asteroid encounter mission ever attempted.

NASA's Daily Minor Planet citizen science project has expanded to include data from the powerful Bok 2.3-meter telescope at Kitt Peak, enabling detection of near-Earth asteroids two to three times fainter than before.

The Vera Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey will detect one-meter class objects heading for Earth, enabling precise impact site predictions.

Fan-like patterns on Dimorphos confirm material transfer between binary asteroids, a first in planetary science.

NASA has confirmed that its DART mission not only altered Dimorphos's orbit around Didymos but actually changed the asteroid system's orbit around the sun.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, featuring the world's largest digital camera at 3.2 gigapixels, is preparing to begin its decade-long survey of the southern sky. In its first year alone, the telescope will catalog more objects than every other optical observatory in human history combined.