Out there in space are a number of weird things but once in a while, something will appear that will make scientists pause and say, "Wait... that can not be true as well as it can be. An asteroid has done just that and been sighted recently. It rotates more rapidly than anyasteroid of its body that had ever been observed and to tell the truth it feels as though nature were defying its laws.
This space rock was found with the help of the strong Vera C. Rubin Observatory which has only recently set out on scanning the sky in greater detail. In days of observations, it has picked an asteroid that appears to be normal in the surface. It is located in the middle asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and it is not close enough to pose any threat to the earth. However, after scientists measured the rate at which it spins everything changed.
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This asteroid is huge. Around 700 meters wide. You can not call that a little rock floating in space. Big objects tend to be rotators that move slowly. The majority of the large asteroids require several hours to spin one full orbit. Some even take days. This one? It completes a full rotation within a minute and half.
Let that sink in.
Wonder a thing like that, half the size of the football fields. It is not according to what we know of physics that it should tear itself apart. But it does not.
To see how hideous this is, you must know how the major part of the asteroids are constructed. A good number of them are referred to as rubble piles. They are not solid rocks. They consist of loose aggregates of stones, dust, and rubble which is united by feeble gravity. Turn them upside down and the fragments ought to be hurled away into space.
Asteroids have a speed limit known. Scientists even refer to it as spin barrier. Pass that boundary, and the asteroid is to disintegrate. This new one that had just been found broke through that barrier as though it were air.
So how is it still in one piece?
That is the big mystery.
A possible solution is that it is not a rubble pile at all which is the asteroid. It is a great solid piece of rock, perhaps even metallic-laden. It may be powerful enough internally that it will withstand the excessive rotary motion. Then it would be something special. Majority of the asteroids this large are not solid.
The other thought is that it developed in a violent manner. Perhaps it is a crust of a comparatively very big asteroid that broke many years ago. Such a history might result in the thick, squat body with a greater capacity to process stress than normal.
The more thrilling aspect of this discovery is what this would spell out in space science in the future. The Rubin Observatory is in its infancy. What one can find this seldom, how the more reason now how much better still is waiting out there? We may find rule breaking asteroids, weird stuff and the things we have not even considered to look at.
This is not only important in sheer curiosity. Knowledge of asteroid structure assists in defending the earth. When a rapidly rotating asteroid occurs and is pointed at the earth knowing whether it is hard or soft may alter our approach to it. All space rocks cannot be treated like that.
It is very human too, to find a discovery such as this. We like rules. We like patterns. They put the universe into perspective. And then we get one such asteroid and it gives us the reminder that space is indifferent to our anticipations.
It spins too fast. It ought not to be the way it is. But there it is, miles and miles away making records silently.
And that is what it is that makes space so exciting. We get used to one thing, and then the universe gives us a curve ball and points out to us that there is so much more to learn.
