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Charlie Stross boosted

@esoastronomy@mastodon.social · 2 days ago

Can Japan's #Hayabusa2 touchdown on asteroid 1998 KY26?

A new study that includes VLT observations reveals the mission’s target asteroid to be three times smaller and rotating much faster than previously thought.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2515/

Video summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFCsw-mcg18

Artist's impression by ESO/M. Kornmesser. Asteroid: T. Santana-Ros et al. Hayabusa2 model: SuperTKG (CC-BY-SA).

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

Can Hayabusa2 touchdown? New study reveals space mission’s target asteroid is tinier and faster than thought

Astronomers have used observatories around the world, including the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), to study the asteroid 1998 KY26, revealing it to be almost three times smaller and spinning much faster than previously thought. The asteroid is the 2031 target for Japan’s Hayabusa2 extended mission. The new observations offer key information for the mission’s operations at the asteroid, just six years out from the spacecraft’s encounter with 1998 KY26.

An artist’s impression of a spacecraft touching down on a grey asteroid. The spacecraft casts a shadow on the asteroid. The image background is black.

@esoastronomy@mastodon.social · 2 days ago

Can Japan's #Hayabusa2 touchdown on asteroid 1998 KY26?

A new study that includes VLT observations reveals the mission’s target asteroid to be three times smaller and rotating much faster than previously thought.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2515/

Video summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFCsw-mcg18

Artist's impression by ESO/M. Kornmesser. Asteroid: T. Santana-Ros et al. Hayabusa2 model: SuperTKG (CC-BY-SA).

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

Can Hayabusa2 touchdown? New study reveals space mission’s target asteroid is tinier and faster than thought

Astronomers have used observatories around the world, including the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), to study the asteroid 1998 KY26, revealing it to be almost three times smaller and spinning much faster than previously thought. The asteroid is the 2031 target for Japan’s Hayabusa2 extended mission. The new observations offer key information for the mission’s operations at the asteroid, just six years out from the spacecraft’s encounter with 1998 KY26.

An artist’s impression of a spacecraft touching down on a grey asteroid. The spacecraft casts a shadow on the asteroid. The image background is black.

The Japan Times

@thejapantimes@mastodon.social · last week

The parent body of asteroid Ryugu appears to have harbored water in the form of ice for over a billion years, Japanese researchers have found, in a discovery that could reshape ideas on how the Earth got its oceans. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/11/japan/science-health/ryugu-asteroids-water-earth/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #sciencehealth #hayabusa2 #space #astronomy #asteroids #planets #ryugu

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