There’s no doubt that as our astronomical observation equipment has gotten more advanced and powerful, we’ve been making new discoveries at a startlingly fast rate. But it’s hard to really picture just how many of those discoveries have been made in the last, say, 30 years without some type of visual aid. Scott Manley recognized this problem and set to work creating one of the most truly breathtaking science videos we’ve ever seen. It uses data from the Minor Planet Center and the Lowell Observatory to map out every asteroid discovery from 1980 to 2010.

The video shows in sparkling detail how many asteroids have been were discovered in a 30-year period in the order they were discovered. All the while, the solar system just keeps chugging along. It is fascinating to see discovery patterns emerge, especially near the end of the video where there is a very clear and unusual pattern. The newly-discovered asteroids also seem to be further and further away from Earth as the years progress, which can be attributed to newer and more powerful telescopes being used to spot the minor planets.

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The European Space Agency just gave the Earth a look at the creation of our solar system via some startlingly beautiful pictures of a 4.5 billion year old asteroid called Lutetia. The ESA’s Rosetta mission ventured extremely close to the asteroid on July 10th, coming within 1,965 miles of Lutetia and gathering a wealth of new data in the process. The close-up photographs are hauntingly lovely, showing a space object that looks almost too amazing to be real.

This is the first close-up look we’ve gotten of this ancient rock, one that is almost like taking a look into the unthinkably long-ago past. Lutetia revealed a cratered and pockmarked surface resulting from many collisions over its very long existence. While taking pictures of Lutetia, Rosetta also collected information on the asteroid’s density, composition, magnetic field, and possible atmosphere. Rosetta even attempted to capture dust grains floating near the asteroid. (Above, Lutetia is shown with Saturn in the background.)

Even though it’s provided some compelling and fascinating data, Rosetta still has a long way to go. After its close encounter with Lutetia, Rosetta continued on toward its final destination: a 2014 rendezvous with the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The mission’s primary objective is to follow the comet for months and finally send a lander down to the surface.

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