 P/2013 P5 (PanSTARRS) as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope | |
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Bryce T. Bolin using Pan-STARRS |
| Discovery date | 27 August 2013 |
| Designations | |
| P/2013 P5 (PANSTARRS) | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 16 November 2013 (JD 2456612.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 13.13 yr (4,797 d) |
| Earliest precovery date | 17 January 2005 |
| Aphelion | 2.4411 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9362 AU |
| 2.1885 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.11530 |
| 3.24 yr (1182.575d) | |
Average orbital speed | 0.3044°/d |
| 314.07° | |
| Inclination | 4.9685° |
| 279.29° | |
| 2024-Jan-01[3] | |
| 144.26° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| ~480 meters (1,570 ft)[4] | |
Mean density | 3.30 ± 0.20 g/cm3[4] |
| ~0.240 m/s | |
311P/PanSTARRS also known as P/2013 P5 (PanSTARRS) is an active asteroid (object with asteroid-like orbit but with comet-like visual characteristics) discovered by Bryce T. Bolin using the Pan-STARRS telescope on 27 August 2013.[1][5] Observations made by the Hubble Space Telescope revealed that it had six comet-like tails.[6] The tails are suspected to be streams of material ejected by the asteroid as a result of a rubble pile asteroid spinning fast enough to remove material from it.[4] This is similar to 331P/Gibbs, which was found to be a quickly-spinning rubble pile as well.
Three-dimensional models constructed by Jessica Agarwal of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Lindau, Germany, showed that the tails could have formed by a series of periodic impulsive dust-ejection events,[7] radiation pressure from the Sun then stretched the dust into streams.[6]
Precovery images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey from 2005 were found, showing negligible cometary activity in 2005.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
CBET-2013-3639was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
jpldatawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Horizons2024was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
Jewitt2013was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "When is a comet not a comet?". Spacetelescope. 7 November 2013.
- ^ a b "NASA's Hubble Sees Asteroid Spouting Six Comet-Like Tails". Hubblesite. 7 November 2013.
- ^ "She calculated that dust-ejection events occurred on April 15, July 18, July 24, Aug. 8, Aug. 26 and Sept. 4"