Dimorphos’ much larger companion asteroid Didymos is spinning so fast that it’s capable of ejecting pieces of rubble into deep space.
Spin Kick
Last year, NASA rammed its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft into a tiny moonlet called Dimorphos, demonstrating a promising way to redirect a potential incoming killer asteroid to save life on Earth.
Now, given the huge amount of scrutiny following the collision, scientists have made another surprising discovery: Dimorphos’ much larger companion Didymos is spinning so fast, they say, that it’s capable of shooting pieces of rubble into space, a puzzling conclusion that highlights the fact that asteroids aren’t necessarily the inert lumps of rock they’re often thought of, Scientific American reports.
