Cometa Leonard En La Mañana Del 10 De Diciembre Del 2021, Ubicado Del Lado Izquierdo, La Estrella Arcturus

Asteroid Bennu, the Storyteller

Asteroids are the storytellers of our solar system’s youth. They are the closest we can get to the original material that makes up the sun, planets, and moons.

This week, our OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made history when it touched a pristine, ancient asteroid named Bennu to collect a sample from the surface. The intrepid spacecraft will now bring the asteroid sample – and its stories – back home to Earth.

Why is it that asteroid Bennu holds the history of our origins? Let’s go back to the beginning…

About 4.5 billion years ago, our solar system began as a spinning, swirling cloud made up of tiny bits of gaseous and rocky material. Most of that material – more than 99% of it – gathered in the center and went on to become the Sun.

The leftovers began to spin around the Sun, colliding into one another and forming larger and larger objects, eventually becoming planets, dwarf planets, and moons.

But asteroids didn’t become part of planets or moons. So, while the material in planets and moons were superheated and altered during the formation of the solar system and weathered by geologic processes over time, asteroids remained pristine.

Each asteroid holds knowledge from that special time in our solar system’s history. Each one contains information about the chemicals, minerals, and molecules that were present when the solar system was just starting to form.

With missions like OSIRIS-REx, we are going on a journey to these ancient worlds, seeking to learn what they remember, seeking to expand our knowledge, and deepen our understanding of our origins.

Learn more about the OSIRIS-REx mission HERE, or follow the mission on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Aurora Boreal.

Crédito: Ollie Taylor

@olliemtaylor

Senda estelar alrededor del polo norte celeste. La estrella en el centro de los arcos celestiales concentricos es Polaris.

Imagen desde Bayanhaote, en el interior de Mongolia de China.

Crédito: Jeff Dai

https://instagram.com/jeffdaiphoto

~Antares

Parque Nacional Yellowstone

Exif:

Sony a7íii, Sony 16-35 GM, ÍOptron Skytracker Pro

Sky: 16mm, f/2.8, IS01000,120 sec. (tracked)

Foreground: 16mm, f/2.8, IS01000,300 sec. (untracked)

Crédito: Kelly Teich

https://instagram.com/kelly.teich

~Antares

Luna llena desde la República Popular China.

Crédito: Jeff Dai

https://instagram.com/jeffdaiphoto

~Antares

"Darkly Dreaming"

Crédito: Aaron Groen

Web: http://www.aaronjgroen.com/

Peaceful Ethereal Piano Music 🎹 Spotify Playlist

🌻🌻🌻Girasoles en Podlaskie, Polonia.

Crédito: Tomasz Arciszewski

Instagram: arciszz

NEOWISE

El polvo de cometa cae a través de un cielo crepuscular en esta escena onírica, pero no es parte de una película de cuento de hadas.

Capturado el 20 de julio, la racha brillante sobre las torres del castillo es probablemente un meteoro de las Perseidas.

Crédito: Stephane Guisard

Luna

Cámara digital compacta Canon Powershot Sx60hs X85 zoom, sin telescopio.

Crédito: Hidehiko Akazawa