New Scientist - Space

Cookies on the New Scientist website close Our website uses cookies, which are small text files that are widely used in order to make websites work more effectively. To continue using our website and consent to the use of cookies, click away from this box or click 'Close' Find out about our cookies and how to change them Space Log in Your login is case sensitive I have forgotten my password close My New Scientist Look for Science Jobs Earth's love handles keep satellites from falling Big bang, no boom: Did Planck pop inflation bubble? Ringed asteroid will make a star blink out over Africa TODAY: 12:19 10 April 2014 The first known asteroid with Saturn-like rings will cross in front of a star this month, perhaps revealing clues to how the thin rings stay in shape NASA 'flying saucer' for Mars to land in Hawaii TODAY: 20:46 09 April 2014 The test flight will use an inflatable system designed to get heavy loads – and perhaps people – safely on the Martian surface TODAY: 19:30 09 April 2014 Where am I?

Astronomy Magazine Cosmos Magazine - Space Asteroid surfaces are heavy with bombardment and are being shaped by impacts at even a microscopic level, researchers have found. Credit: JAXA CAMBRIDGE: Tiny particles of space dust bombard asteroids and shape their surface at a microscopic level, scientists have found. A study published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science analysed material from the surface of a near-Earth asteroid. “Our findings show the landscape itself of the very surface of an asteroid,” said Eizo Nakamura, who worked on the study with colleagues at Okayama University in Misasa, Japan and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Exploring the surface of an asteroid Asteroids are considered to be intermediate products of processes that formed large solar bodies. Previous information gathered about asteroids has come from remote observations measuring properties such as the reflection of light from the surface. Space weathering Complex asteroidal process