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WED, 14 OCT · 85 ITEMS
"Vera Rubin Observatory finds largest ultra-fast spinning asteroid" — Phys.org · Science & Medicine
scientists analyzed repeated brightness measurements of more than 9,000 asteroids and identified the largest known — reported at roughly 2.5 kilometers across and rotating once every few minutes. That is striking because an object that large is expected to be a loosely bound rubble pile, which would normally fly apart at such spin rates; the discovery therefore hints that this asteroid has significant internal strength or a monolithic structure.
The claim is a reputable secondary report of a named primary source: a University of Washington / DiRAC Institute analysis of Rubin Observatory photometry, consistent with earlier Rubin/NOIRLab announcements about the fastest-spinning large asteroid. The 'largest ultra-fast spinner' label depends on the team's definition of ultra-fast rotation and on model-derived size estimates from brightness data, so the record is solid but somewhat definition-dependent.
Published on 2026-10-13, this is fresh reporting in that window, but the underlying record-setting asteroid was already announced in January/February 2026, so it is a new article about an earlier discovery rather than a brand-new result.