354P/LINEAR, provisionally designated P/2010 A2 (LINEAR), is a small main-belt asteroid that was impacted by another asteroid sometime before 2010. It was discovered by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) at Socorro, New Mexico on 6 January 2010. The asteroid possesses a dusty, X-shaped, comet-like debris trail that has remained nearly a decade since impact.[5] This was the first time a small-body collision had been observed; since then, minor planet 596 Scheila has also been seen to undergo a collision, in late 2010. The tail is created by millimeter-sized particles being pushed back by solar radiation pressure.[7][8]
 Hubble Space Telescope image of 354P/LINEAR with dusty impact debris on 2 February 2010 | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LINEAR (704) |
| Discovery date | 6 January 2010 |
| Designations | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 13 October 2010 (JD 2455482.5) | |
| Aphelion | 2.58 AU (Q) |
| Perihelion | 2.01 AU (q) |
| 2.29 AU (a) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1246 |
| 3.47 yr | |
| 88.9° (M) | |
| Inclination | 5.25° |
| 320° | |
| 2023-Oct-13[4] | |
| 133° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 172.4 × 88.8 m[5] |
| 123.8+33.6 −18.4 m[5] | |
| 11.36±0.02 h | |
| Albedo | unknown |
| ~18-20[1] | |
| 21.3±0.6[6] | |
Overview
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P/2010 A2 was discovered on 6 January 2010 by Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) using a 1-meter (36") reflecting telescope with a CCD camera.[1] It was LINEAR's 193rd comet discovery.[9][10] It has been observed over a 112-day arc of the 3.5 year orbit.[3] It appears to have come to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) around the start of December 2009,[3] about a month before it was discovered.
With an aphelion (furthest distance from the Sun) of only 2.6 AU,[3] P/2010 A2 spends all of its time inside of the frostline at 2.7 AU.[11] Beyond the frostline volatile ices are generally more common. Early observations did not detect water vapor or other gases.[12] Within less than a month of its discovery it was doubtful that the tail of P/2010 A2 was generated via active outgassing from sublimation of ices hidden beneath the crust.[13] Early modeling indicated that the asteroid became active in late March 2009, reached maximum activity in early June 2009, and eased activity in early December 2009.[14]
Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope[15] and the narrow angle camera on board the Rosetta spacecraft[16] indicate that the dust trail seen was probably created by the impact of a small meter size object on the larger asteroid in February or March 2009, although it cannot be ruled out that the asteroid's rotation increased from solar radiation resulting in a loss of mass that formed a comet-like tail.[17]
P/2010 A2 is likely about 150 meters (460 feet) in diameter.[12] Even when it was discovered it was suspected of being less than 500 meters in diameter.[18]
The orbit of P/2010 A2 is consistent with membership in the Flora asteroid family, produced by collisional shattering more than 100 million years ago.[12] The Flora family of asteroids may be the source of the Chicxulub (Cretaceous–Paleogene) impactor, the likely culprit in the extinction of the dinosaurs.[12]
Debris field  P/2010 A2 is likely the debris left over from a recent collision between two very small asteroids. |
Surviving fragment Surviving fragment seen to the lower left of debris field |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Marsden, Brian G. (7 January 2010). "MPEC 2010-A32 : COMET P/2010 A2 (LINEAR)". IAU Minor Planet Center. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ^ "When is a comet not a comet? Rosetta finds out". ESA News. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: P/2010 A2 (LINEAR)" (last observation: 2012-10-14; arc: 2.83 years). Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ JPL Horizons Observer Location: @sun (Perihelion occurs when deldot changes from negative to positive.)
- ^ a b c Kim, Yoonyoung; Ishiguro, Masateru; Lee, Myung Gyoon (June 2017). "New Observational Evidence of Active Asteroid P/2010 A2: Slow Rotation of the Largest Fragment". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 842 (2): 5. arXiv:1706.03924. Bibcode:2017ApJ...842L..23K. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa7944. L23.
- ^ This absolute asteroidal V magnitude has been calculated using comet/asteroid magnitude analysis software "Comet for Windows" from value of R = 23.0±0.5 taken from IAU Circular No. 9109. The mean V-R color index for asteroids is +0.4±0.1.
- ^ HST Sees Evidence of Colliding Asteroids, Astronomy Today, Feb.2, 2010
- ^ Jewitt, David C. "P/2010 A2 (LINEAR): Possible Asteroid Smash". UCLA (Department of Earth and Space Sciences). Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ Hergenrother, Carl W.; The Curious Case of Comet LINEAR, The Transient Sky, 10 January 2010 (1.8-m telescope on Kitt Peak)
- ^ Catalogue of Comet Discoveries, Comethunter.de
- ^ "Glossary of Astronomical Terms (Ice line)". Glossary of Astronomical Terms. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ^ a b c d Harrington, J. D.; Villard, Ray (2 February 2010). "Suspected Asteroid Collision Leaves Trailing Debris". NASA Release : 10-029. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ Jewitt, David C. "P/2010 A2 (LINEAR): The 5th Main-Belt Comet". UCLA (Department of Earth and Space Sciences). Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ^ Méndez, Javier (23 July 2010). "Comet P/2010 A2, an Activated Asteroid from the Main Asteroid Belt". Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING). Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ Jewitt, David C.; Weaver, Harold; Agarwal, Jessica; Mutchler, Max; et al. (2010). "A recent disruption of the main-belt asteroid P/2010?A2". Nature. 467 (7317): 817–9. Bibcode:2010Natur.467..817J. doi:10.1038/nature09456. PMID 20944743. S2CID 205222567.
- ^ Snodgrass, Colin; Tubiana, Cecilia; Vincent, Jean-Baptiste; Sierks, Holger; Hviid, Stubbe; Moissl, Richard; Boehnhardt, Hermann; Barbieri, Cesare; et al. (2010). "A collision in 2009 as the origin of the debris trail of asteroid P/2010?A2". Nature. 467 (7317): 814–6. arXiv:1010.2883. Bibcode:2010Natur.467..814S. doi:10.1038/nature09453. PMID 20944742. S2CID 4330570.
- ^ Harrington, J. D.; Weaver, Donna; Jewitt, David C. (13 October 2010). "Hubble Finds that a Bizarre X-Shaped Intruder Is Linked to an Unseen Asteroid Collision". Hubblesite newscenter STScI-2010-34. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ^ Shanklin, Jonathan (18 January 2010). "BAA Comet Section : Comets discovered in 2010". Institute of Astronomy (British Astronomical Association). Retrieved 21 January 2010.
External links
edit- Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Horizons Ephemeris
- Image of Comet P/2010 A2 (Muler 12" Meade LX200)
- Suspected Asteroid Collision Leaves Odd X-Pattern of Trailing Debris (Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 2010 January 29 image)
- Hubblesite Videos (January 29 through May 29)
- NOAO/WIYN: New Camera at WIYN images an Asteroid with a Long Tail (NOAO 13-07 : 3 June 2013)
- Jewitt, David; Ishiguro, Masateru; Agarwal, Jessica (2013). "Large Particles in Active Asteroid P/2010 A2". The Astrophysical Journal. 764 (1): L5. arXiv:1301.2566. Bibcode:2013ApJ...764L...5J. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/764/1/L5. S2CID 37325835.
