Radar and optical observations of asteroid 1998 KY26

Observations of near-Earth asteroid 1998 KY26 shortly after its discovery r eveal a slightly elongated spheroid with a diameter of about 30 meters, a c omposition analogous to carbonaceous chondritic meteorites, and a rotation period of 10.7 minutes. which is an order of magnitude shorter than that me asured for any other solar system object. The rotation is too rapid for 199 8 KY26 to consist of multiple components bound together just by their mutua l gravitational attraction. This monolithic object probably is a fragment d erived from cratering or collisional destruction of a much larger asteroid.