Scientists analyzing the first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have discovered the fastest-spinning asteroid of its size ever.
This record-breaking space rock, called 2025 MN45, is approximately 2,300 feet (710 meters) wide and larger than most skyscrapers on Earth. This giant rock rotates in about 113 seconds, making it the fastest-spinning asteroid known over 1,640 feet (500 meters) in diameter.
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The study is the first peer-reviewed publication from Rubin Observatory’s LSST camera, the world’s largest digital camera, which will repeatedly scan the Southern Hemisphere’s night sky over a 10-year period to create unprecedented time-lapse videos of the universe.
rolling rock
Asteroids are essentially large space rocks, many of which are remnants of how the solar system emerged early in its 4.5 billion year history, before planets and moons evolved. Therefore, by studying asteroids, scientists can uncover how the solar system has changed over time.
Scientists discovered MN45 in 2025 using preliminary data releases from the Rubin Observatory. In just seven nights of observation, the observatory has already uncovered thousands of previously unknown asteroids around the solar system. (The 10-year LSST study has not yet officially begun, but is expected to begin in the coming months.)
The asteroid’s surprisingly fast rotation excited the research team because it provides clues about the composition of its ancient rocks.
“Clearly, for this asteroid to hold together, it would have to be made of extremely strong material,” Sarah Greenstreet, an assistant astronomer at the National Science Foundation’s National Institute for Optical and Infrared Astronomy, said in a statement. “You’re going to need a cohesive force similar to that of solid rock.”
“This is a bit surprising,” added Greenstreet, who also heads the Rubin Working Group on Near-Earth and Interstellar Objects. “Most asteroids are thought to be so-called ‘rubble heap’ asteroids, meaning they are made up of many, many small rocks and debris that were gravitated together during the formation of the solar system and subsequent collisions.”
Thousands more to come
In general, fast-spinning asteroids may have reached that state after a collision with another space rock, the researchers said. 2025 MN45 could also be the remains of a much larger asteroid that was shattered by a cosmic collision.
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Most of the solar system’s asteroids are located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. However, the study authors note that most of the fast-spinning asteroids that astronomers have observed are much closer to Earth, simply because they are easier to see. 2025 MN45 is a main belt object, and most asteroids (as they are rubble piles) need at least 2.2 hours to rotate to avoid fragmentation. Anything that spins faster than that “must be structurally sound,” they write.
However, 2025 MN45 is not the only fast rotating object in the major asteroid belt. In addition to 2025 MN45, Rubin’s first dataset includes 16 “ultrafast” rotors, each with a rotation period of 13 minutes to 2.2 hours, and two “ultrafast” rotors, each with a rotation period of less than 2 minutes. All of these asteroids are more than 100 yards (90 m) long, and all but one of the newly discovered asteroids reside in the main belt.
The commissioning data by Rubin, published last June, were discussed in more detail in a new paper and at a press conference Wednesday at the American Astronomical Society’s 247th meeting in Phoenix.
This vast observation set includes about 1,900 asteroids that have never been seen before, the statement said. There’s more to come as Rubin officially launches a 10-year survey of the skies in the coming months.
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