Tootfinder

An #asteroid hit deep in the #Australian #outback. What it left may have broken a record.
Australian researchers say they have found evidence of Earth’s oldest known asteroid

An asteroid hit deep in the Australian outback. What it left may have broken a record
Australian researchers say they have found evidence of Earth's oldest known asteroid impact. It dates back three billion years.

The Lucy flyby of (52246) #Donaldjohanson - a bilobed #asteroid with tumbling rotation: #Lucy Reveals Wobbling, Peanut-Shaped Asteroid: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/nasas-lucy-reveals-wobbling-peanut-shaped-asteroid/

The #Hayabusa2 spacecraft in its extended mission has sighted the #asteroid (98943) #Torifune which it will pass on 5 July: https://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20260624_torifune/ - see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs3434wHA_Y for a recorded press conference.

Accessible does not mean exploitable - HiPERCAM reveals the ultra-fast rotation of 2022 OB5: #Asteroid 2022 OB5 Spins Too Fast For Current Prospectors Highlighting the Divide Between "Accessible" and "Exploitable": https://www.universetoday.com/articles/asteroid-2022-ob5-spins-too-fast-for-current-prospectors-highlighting-the-divide-between-accessible

Unmasking (44) Nysa - evidence for a trilobate structure: #Asteroid (44) #Nysa is also detected. #AdaptiveOptics

A Census before Rubin of #Asteroid Families in the Main Belt: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/ae4bd4 -> more graphics in the thread https://bsky.app/profile/thunkii.bsky.social/post/3mlrw4pyv2s2q

There was another case Friday of a tiny (probably < 1 meter) #asteroid hitting the Earth and getting discovered a few hours before but no detection of its airburst near Papua New Guinea has been reported so far: https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K26/K26JE3.html = the circumstances (with the designation 2026 JN4 for the has-been object), https://groups.io/g/mpml/topic/119328235 and https://groups.io/g/mpml/topic/119328368 = threads and https://bsky.app/profile/tony873004.bsky.social/post/3mlwb7bed3k2p = an animation.

More data from the #Mars flyby by the #Psyche spacecraft in May have been received: #asteroid Psyche in 2029.

This is the *other* #asteroid visited by an Asian spacecraft this month: tiny (469219) Kamo`oalewa - the bar measures 10 meters - as seen by China's #Tianwen2 from 20 km distance ahead of a #SampleReturnMission: https://www.facebook.com/Spacewalk2021/posts/pfbid02JKYdMnWPGRxxShDj6U6d6M2vs5qUkVL55v97CBgAHJ6KTnCvM6TkSTyDVEFGqk23l (see also the paper https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.24017 about JWST observations of the asteroid).

In 6 hours - at 6:00 UTC - a webcast (with commentary in Japanese) at #Hayabusa2 visit to #asteroid (98943) #Torifune. See also https://x.com/haya2_jaxa/status/2073388791822532727 for unresolved approach images, https://www.monitormyplanet.com/posts/5707 for a prediction of the rotation state during the encounter, https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/06/20260609-1_e.html for its importance, https://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20260703_direction/index.html for where the asteroid is in the sky and https://www.space.com/astronomy/asteroids/japanese-probe-set-for-super-close-flyby-on-july-5-were-going-to-discover-another-beast-to-put-in-the-zoo-of-asteroids and https://astropics.bookbright.co.jp/hayabusa2-torifune-flyby for preview articles.