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 11 2010, 11:58 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 903 Joined: 30-January 05 Member No.: 162 |
Amazing!
If confirmed, it would be an interesting exercise for the UMSF Computational Division to analyze all the other cataloged asteroids' orbital elements and see if any have had a recent close (ahem, really close) approach to 596 Scheila. Regarding Hubble, it is easier to check out 596 Scheila than to look at all the other asteroids to make sure they are all still present and accounted for. |
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