https://www.live-feeds.com/feed/a-mysterious-asteroid-is-accelerating-in-space-and-we-re-running-out-of-explanationsContinuously updated, source-cited coverage. https://www.live-feeds.com/feed/a-mysterious-asteroid-is-accelerating-in-space-and-we-re-running-out-of-explanationshttps://www.live-feeds.com/feed/a-mysterious-asteroid-is-accelerating-in-space-and-we-re-running-out-of-explanations#u193278Wed, 11 Nov 2026 07:12:45 +0000Simulations indicate the near-Earth asteroid 1998 KY26 is too warm to retain water ice, undermining the leading "dark comet" hypothesis that sublimating gas propels its unexplained acceleration. Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft is en route for a 2031 rendezvous to directly study the 30-meter object. With the ice mechanism now unlikely, astronomers lack a confirmed explanation for the non-gravitational forces altering its orbit.Why it mattersDiscovered in 1998, KY26 is a fast-spinning, tiny asteroid whose trajectory cannot be explained by gravity alone. The dark-comet theory proposed