India, Jan. 10 -- SANTIAGO, Chile, January 9 - Astronomers have identified the fastest-spinning large asteroid ever observed, a finding that challenges current understanding of how such space rocks hold together. The asteroid, named 2025 MN45, is 2,300 feet in diameter yet completes a full rotation every 1.88 minutes.

The discovery was made using the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. Its powerful camera spotted 19 rapidly rotating asteroids in the main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, details 76 asteroids, with 16 classified as super-fast rotators.

Lead author Sarah Greenstreet said the asteroid must be made of exceptionally strong material to remain intact. "This is so...