Get the latest tech news
Asteroid that broke up over Berlin was fastest-spinning one ever seen
Before it shattered over Germany, the asteroid 2024 BX1 was clocked rotating once every 2.6 seconds – the fastest spin we have observed
It was a rare example of a tracked asteroid fall, in which the incoming rock is spotted before it encounters Earth, in this case just 3 hours ahead of the event. Maxime Devogele at the European Space Agency’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre in Italy and his colleagues took images of the asteroid prior to its impact. Gauging the spin of objects like this could be useful for planetary defence, letting us know how strong a small asteroid is and how likely it might be to survive its passage through Earth’s atmosphere.
Or read this on Hacker News
