The smallest asteroid is the size of a human

2015 TC25 is about two meters in diameter, reflects 60% of the sunlight that falls on it, and is the smallest asteroid ever found.

2015 TC25 is the smallest asteroid ever found. Illustration: NASA.

Scientists have just published research on asteroid 2015 TC25, which is about two meters in diameter, slightly larger than the average person, in the Astronomical Journal on November 11. This is the smallest asteroid ever discovered.

2015 TC flew past Earth in October 2015 at a distance of 128,000 km, about one-third the distance between Earth and the Moon. Thanks to that, telescopes were able to collect a lot of data about it.

"This is the first time we have optical, infrared and radar data on such a small asteroid. You can think of it as a meteorite floating in space, not yet hitting the atmosphere," said Vishnu Reddy, from the University of Arizona, US, lead author of the study.

2015 TC25 is of particular interest because it is extremely bright, reflecting 60% of the sunlight it receives. Therefore, it is classified as a rare asteroid called Aubrites, which are meteorites rich in luminous minerals such as silicates. 2015 TC25 is also one of the five smallest celestial bodies that has its own rotation period, about 133 seconds/rotation.

Reddy suggests that 2015 TC25 may have broken off from a large asteroid called 44 Nysa, located in the asteroid belt between Earth and Mars, when another asteroid crashed into it.

Small asteroids can collide with the Earth's surface. So by studying asteroids in space, we can track them before and after they enter the atmosphere.

According to VNE