NASA images show the exterior and interior scanning of samples taken from asteroid Bennu on a mission in 2020. New research published in the journal Icarus looks at 1998 KY26, a near-Earth asteroid orbiting the Sun, and what’s behind the space rock’s unusual movement. 1998 KY26 has been proposed as a dark comet, an object in space that looks like an asteroid, but moves through space like a comet, according to NASA. But the study, conducted by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, questions that possible distinction, saying it is probably a dehydrated asteroid. SCIENTISTS DISCOVER A MASSIVE DWARF PLANET LURKING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM A container containing a sample of the asteroid Ryugu is transferred from JAXA to NASA. (NASA/Robert Markowitz/NASA) Previous research thought the asteroid could be a dark comet that could contain ice, buried deep within rock, which when melted would give the asteroid the impetus to explain its unusual motion. These scientists, however, theorize that the asteroid’s surface and interior are too warm to preserve buried ice, which would turn to vapor and escape too quickly to survive over time. Instead, their findings support previous research suggesting that the pressure of sunlight and the heat radiated by the asteroid could explain its unusual motion. END OF AN ERA AS NASA TELESCOPE THAT DETECTED THOUSANDS OF GAMMA RAY EXPLOSIONS APPROACHES ITS FINAL DAYS FILE: A 120-second exposure showing asteroid 2025 QD8 about 1.8 million kilometers from Earth. (The Virtual Telescope Project / FOX Weather) Asteroid 1998 KY26 is estimated to be about 36 feet wide, but could be as large as 43 feet, according to the study’s size estimates. Additionally, the asteroid spins incredibly fast, the study shows, completing one rotation every 5.35 minutes. Every 498 days on Earth, it makes a complete orbit around the Sun, according to the European Space Agency (ESA) asteroid database. ESA announces its next close approach to Earth in May 2039, when it will pass about 10.1 million miles away. HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER It is never expected to interfere with Earth. Artist’s rendering of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft passing near Earth. (JAXA/FOX Weather) The Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft, which launched in 2014 and has completed multiple asteroid flybys and collected samples since then, could offer more information about 1998 KY26 in the coming years. Hayabusa2 is expected to encounter the asteroid in July 2031 as its final target, based on approaches from the Japan Aeronautical Exploration Agency (JAXA).
