Asteroid 1998 KY26
A day is just under 11 minutes long on 1998 KY26 , a 30 meter wide, fast-spinning, water-rich asteroid. This computer simulated view of its lumpy surface has a resolution of about 3 meters and is based on radar and optical observations (click on the image for a series of surface views). The observations were made shortly after the discovery of the diminutive world which passed within about 800,000 kilometers of Earth, or about 2 times the Earth-Moon distance, in June of 1998. Around 10 million asteroids of similar size may exist in orbits that also come near Earth's , but little is known about them . However, spinning so fast, tiny 1998 KY26 can not be a loose conglomerate held together by gravity alone. Instead it is likely a monolithic chunk fragmented from a larger asteroid . As the radar and optical data suggest 1998 KY26 has a high water content, this relatively accessible asteroid could be a literal oasis for future space explorers .