Asteroid 596 Scheila "Outburst" |
Asteroid 596 Scheila "Outburst" |
Dec 11 2010, 11:11 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 699 Joined: 3-December 04 From: Boulder, Colorado, USA Member No.: 117 |
I just saw a report that Steve Larson of the University of Arizona observed a "comet" last night (Saturday morning, December 11th UT), which turned out to be asteroid 596 Scheila. The asteroid, which is quite big (about 113 km in diameter) is surrounded by a vaguely spiral-shaped dust cloud. A recent impact, maybe? If so, it would be the first recorded impact on a large asteroid.
Interesting! John |
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Dec 13 2010, 05:12 PM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 87 Joined: 9-November 07 Member No.: 3958 |
Here's a recent image, from the 1m SARA remote telescope on Kitt Peak. Start at 0939 UT on Dec 13, 10m exposure with V filter by student Erin Darnell and me. The apparent motion was slow enough that we could use a guide star to track at sidereal rate (the telescope often doesn't track open-loop that well for such times). It looks much as if there are two distinct plumes, unless the 3D geometry is pretty twisted.
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 25th April 2024 - 05:39 PM |
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