Archive · 12 Jan 2026
Scientists Discover Ultra-Fast-Spinning Asteroids in Solar System
Scientists have found 19 asteroids in the Asteroid Belt that spin really, really fast.
One of them, called 2025 MN45, spins once every 1.88 minutes, which is super fast for an asteroid of its size.
Normally, an asteroid spinning this fast should break apart, but this one hasn't.
This means it must be made of very strong material.
Scientists are excited because the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which has the world's largest digital camera, helped them find these asteroids.
They hope to learn more about how these asteroids formed and what they're made of.
Scientists discovered 19 ultra-fast-rotating asteroids in the Asteroid Belt using the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.
The fastest-spinning asteroid, 2025 MN45, rotates once every 1.88 minutes and is 2,300 feet in diameter.
The high rotation speed of 2025 MN45 suggests it is made of very strong material, unlike typical 'rubble pile' asteroids.
The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and highlights the unique properties of these asteroids.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time will help discover more such asteroids and reveal their collisional histories and strengths.
- Who
- Scientists using the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile
- What
- Discovered 19 ultra-fast-rotating asteroids in the Asteroid Belt
- When
- The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Where
- Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter
- Why
- To understand the formation, composition, and changes of asteroids
- Asteroid Belt Location
- Between Mars and Jupiter
- Number of Asteroids Discovered
- 19
- Fastest-Spinning Asteroid
- 2025 MN45
- Rotation Speed of 2025 MN45
- Once every 1.88 minutes
- Size of 2025 MN45
- 2,300 feet in diameter
- Observatory
- Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile
- Study Publication
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters