Known as flow formations, these channels could be etched on bodies that would seem inhospitable to liquid because they are exposed to the extreme vacuum conditions of space. Pocked with craters ...

South polar region of the giant asteroid Vesta. NASA/jPL-Caltech/Getty Images ... The elongated shape of the orbit takes the asteroid around the sun and into Earth's vicinity before it ventures ...

The space rock is heading in our direction at some 18,700 miles per hour, according to the space agency's data.

Astronomers can be accurate about this because the plane of the asteroid’s orbit is known, so this risk corridor is unlikely to change much, though it would likely narrow if and when an impact ...

Vesta, with a diameter of between 460 and 580 kilometres, is the third largest asteroid. It rotates around its own axis in five hours and 20 minutes, and requires 3.6 Earth years to complete an orbit ...

Since entering orbit last month, Dawn has taken more than 500 images Vesta's southern section is dominated by a giant crater The northern side is filled with older craters including three that ...

The majority of asteroids orbit the Sun in the main asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter. Their sizes vary significantly, from Vesta—the largest, measuring about 329 miles (530 kilome ...

Burdanov said scientists will be able to predict when and where it will hit, allowing people to be evacuated or even possibly deflecting the asteroid’s orbit.

Launched in 2007, the Dawn spacecraft traveled to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to orbit Vesta for 14 months and Ceres for almost four years. Before ending in 2018, the mission ...