First Closeup Look at a Dynamic Asteroid

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Text, News From The Universe. September 21, 2020. The Earth spins.
 
Text, First Close-up Look at a Dynamic Asteroid. September 21, 2020.
 
A square, rough, iron-gray rock spins against a black background.
 
Text, In a surprise move, asteroid Bennu is ejecting particles into space.
 
Astronomers spent a year studying the phenomena with an unprecedented up-close view, thanks to NASA's OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft. Credit NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
 
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[COSMIC MUSIC]
 
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The science team has observed and tracked more than 300 particle ejection events.
 
Animation of the trajectories of various particle ejections.
 
Text, Some particles escape into space, others briefly orbit the asteroid. Credit Brozovic slash JPL Caltech slash NASA slash University of Arizona.

But most particles fall back onto its surface after being launched.
 
OSIRIS-Rex data shed light on the complexity of asteroid "behavior," with implications for understanding the history of our solar system.
 
This news was brought to you in part by the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ.