Comets have a “nucleus,” usually made of ice and dust, and a tail when they get near the sun, which is the nucleus product shedding off from the comet itself. Sometimes though, some items satisfy the criteria to be both a comet and an asteroid– and a team from the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) think they have actually found a new one.
UT video going over comet tails
One identifying function of 2005 QN173 itself, though, is its cometary tail. The items nucleus is basic enough, with a 3.2 km (2 miles) wide cloud around it. Nevertheless, the items tail is strangely formed. It is more than 720,000 km (450,000 miles) long and just 1,400 km (900miles) large. As described in a news release from PSI– “if the length of the tail was scaled to the length of a football field, it would be simply 7 inches large, and the nucleus would be half a millimeter throughout.”
This lengthened, slim tail implies that the particles it is formed out of are only leaving the thingss surface extremely gradually. Solar pressure is probably not sufficient to eject the dust particles off the surface area to form a tail. Henry Hsieh, a Senior Scientist at PSI and lead author of the paper, thinks that the 2005 QN173s rotation may assist contribute to the energy required for dust to escape but cautions that more observations are required prior to completing any models of the things or similar ones.
Comparison of the orbits in between a standard comet (Halleys) and 2005 QN173.Credit– Henry H. Hsieh (PSI).
Far back, similar items may have been the source of much of Earths water. Models of the early planet recommend that a great deal of the water Earth presently holds was at first delivered by main-belt asteroids in the early life of the solar system. Studying anything that still looks like a comet after billions of years in the asteroid belt could assist to prove or disprove that theory if that model is precise.
Find out more: PSI– Is New Finding an Asteroid or a Comet? Its BotharXiv– Physical Characterization of Main-Belt Comet (248370) 2005 QN173Sciencealert– Weird Space Rock Confirmed as Super-Rare Hybrid of Comet And AsteroidSpace.com– Is it an asteroid or comet? This unusual solar system things is really both.
Lead Image: Composite picture of 2005 QN173, whose tail can be seen going from the upper left down right.Credit– Henry H. Hsieh (PSI), Jana Pittichová (NASA/JPL-Caltech).
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If that model is accurate, then studying anything that still looks like a comet after billions of years in the asteroid belt could assist to disprove that theory or prove.
Discover More: PSI– Is New Finding an Asteroid or a Comet? Its BotharXiv– Physical Characterization of Main-Belt Comet (248370) 2005 QN173Sciencealert– Weird Space Rock Confirmed as Super-Rare Hybrid of Comet And AsteroidSpace.com– Is it an asteroid or comet?
UT video going over the asteroid belt.
That activity is what makes this things special when compared to other asteroids in the belt. Any ice that might trigger sublimation would have been burnt billions of years earlier, as they have been exposed to the complete force of the sun for that long. On the other hand, comets are just subjected to that solar energy when on the perihelion of their, sometimes very eccentric, orbit. While farther away from the sun, solar radiation has little to no effect on the ice the comet consists of.
So it is a bit surprising when researchers find an object that outgasses like a comet but is in the same position as billions of other asteroids. In this case, the author of the brand-new paper on 2005 QN173 is likewise the person that found this whole category of unique things, now called main-belt comets.
Comets have a “nucleus,” usually made of ice and dust, and a tail when they get near the sun, which is the nucleus product shedding off from the comet itself. Sometimes though, some things fulfill the requirements to be both an asteroid and a comet– and a team from the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) believe they have discovered a new one.
The object, 2005 QN173, lies in the main asteroid belt in between Mars and Jupiter. It is one of only 8 recognized main-belt challenge be “active” on more than one celebration. Being “active,” in this case, is defined as changing its orbital pattern due to something occurring to the object particularly. Sublimation of ice on the items surface is the most likely cause of any activity in the case of 2005 QN173.
