Recent advancements in asteroid research, particularly through the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, have unlocked fascinating insights into the rotation behavior of these ancient space objects.

Whether an asteroid is spinning neatly on its axis or tumbling chaotically, and how fast it is doing so, has been shown to be dependent on how frequently it has experienced collisions. The findings, ...

Asteroids might seem like peaceful drifters suspended in space, but they’re really disturbed, spinning and tumbling in complex motion that holds clues to their past. A new study presented at the ...

On the left is a graph based on data from Gaia, plotting asteroid rotation versus diameter. The dividing line between tumblers and pure spinners is evidence. On the right is a simulated model that ...

The European Space Agency’s Gaia mission has cracked the long-standing puzzle of why some asteroids spin smoothly while others tumble unpredictably. New data presented at the EPSC-DPS2025 Joint ...

Scientists caution that asteroid deflection must be precise, as striking the wrong spot risks sending it through a gravitational keyhole that sets up a future collision with Earth. Using lessons from ...