6478 Gault

6478 Gault
Gault's two comet-like tails seen from Hubble on February 5th 2019[1]
Discovery [2]
Discovered byC. Shoemaker
E. Shoemaker
Discovery sitePalomar Obs.
Discovery date12 May 1988
Designations
(6478) Gault
Pronunciation/ˈɡɔːlt/
Named after
Donald Gault [2]
(American planetary geologist)
1988 JC1 · 1995 KC1
main-belt [2][3] · (inner)
Phocaea [4][5] · MBC
Orbital characteristics [3]
Epoch 17 December 2020 (JD 2459200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc62.10 yr (22,681 d)
Earliest precovery date11 December 1958
Aphelion2.7513 AU
Perihelion1.8587 AU
2.3050 AU
Eccentricity0.1936
3.50 yr (1,278 d)
98.412°
0° 16m 53.76s / day
Inclination22.813°
183.538°
2023-Jul-04[6]
83.172°
Physical characteristics
2.8+0.4
−0.2 km[7]
2.4929±0.0003 h[7]
0.26±0.05[7]
0.13±0.04[8]
S (est. family-based)
14.4[2][3]

6478 Gault, provisional designation 1988 JC1, is a Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3.7 kilometers (2.3 miles) in diameter. The likely S-type asteroid was discovered on 12 May 1988, by astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. It was named in honor of planetary geologist Donald Gault.[2] In January 2019, it was found that Gault shows cometary activity and that it has multiple tails, making it an active asteroid.[9] It was subsequently realised that it had been active since at least 2013.[10]

  1. ^ "What Did Hubble See on Your Birthday?". 28 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference MPC-object was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ferret was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference AstDys-object was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ JPL Horizons Observer Location: @sun (Perihelion occurs when deldot changes from negative to positive.)
  7. ^ a b c Devogèle, Maxime; Ferrais, Marin; Jehin, Emmanuel; Moskovitz, Nicholas; Skiff, Brian A.; Levine, Stephen E.; Gustafsson, Annika; Farnocchia, Davide; Micheli, Marco; Snodgrass, Colin; Borisov, Galin; Manfroid, Jean; Moulane, Youssef; Benkhaldoun, Zouhair; Burdanov, Artem; Pozuelos, Francisco J.; Gillon, Michael; De Wit, Julien; Green, Simon F.; Bendjoya, Philippe; Rivet, Jean-Pierre; Abe, Luy; Vernet, David; Chandler, Colin Orion; Trujillo, Chadwick A. (2021), "(6478) Gault: Physical characterization of an active main-belt asteroid", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 505: 245–258, arXiv:2104.11177, doi:10.1093/mnras/stab1252
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Carbognani was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Garner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chandler was invoked but never defined (see the help page).