Accelerating asteroid ruled out as comet: too warm to keep ice
The 11-meter space rock is too hot to retain the ice that would power a comet's unusual acceleration.
Scientists thought asteroid KY26 might be a hidden comet, fired by invisible outgassing from buried ice. Two aerospace engineers from Georgia Institute of Technology checked its temperature.
The coldest patches on KY26 average minus 61 degrees Celsius. Minus 61 degrees Celsius is far too warm for cometary ice to survive.
Any water ice would boil away in 62 years, not billions. So KY26 remains a puzzle: what is pushing it off its normal path?
Radiation from the Sun could be responsible. The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 will reach KY26 in July 2031 and may settle the question.
- 11 meters
- Size
- minus 61 degrees Celsius
- Coldest temperature
- 62 years
- Ice survival time
- 5.35 minutes
- Rotation period
Why it mattersUnderstanding what moves unusual asteroids helps scientists predict their paths and grasp what materials comprise these objects.
AustraliaNo direct Australian effect yet, but the 2031 Hayabusa2 rendezvous will be one of astronomy's major discoveries, widely followed.
