Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Robert Weryk Richard Wainscoat |
Discovery site | Pan-STARRS 1 Haleakala Observatory |
Discovery date | 1 April 2016 |
Designations | |
2016 G1 | |
PK16G010 [1] | |
Asteroid belt | |
Orbital characteristics [2] | |
Epoch 30 April 2016 (JD 2457508.5) | |
Observation arc | 198 days |
Aphelion | 3.126 AU |
Perihelion | 2.040 AU |
2.583 AU | |
4.152 years | |
295.62° | |
Inclination | 10.968° |
204.07° | |
111.28° | |
Earth MOID | 1.057 AU |
Physical characteristics [3] | |
Dimensions | 200–400 m (660–1,310 ft) |
16.1 | |
P/2016 G1 (PanSTARRS) was a main-belt asteroid that was destroyed by an impact event on 6 March 2016. [4]
It was discovered by Robert Weryk and Richard Wainscoat of the Pan-STARRS 1 survey at Haleakala Observatory. The object was initially thought to be an Encke-type comet because of its diffuse appearance, [5] [6] so it received the periodic comet designation P/2016 G1. [2] After further analysis, what had initially appeared to be a comet's halo turned out to be rubble from a collision. By November 2019, analysis suggested the collision had occurred on 6 March 2016, and the asteroid was struck by a smaller object that may have massed only 1.0 kg (2.2 lb), and was traveling at 11,000 mph (18,000 km/h). [7] P/2016 G1's diameter was between 200 m (660 ft) and 400 m (1,300 ft). [3] The asteroid had completely disintegrated by 2017. [3]
Astronomers were able to use the asteroid's rubble to determine the date of the collision, since the dispersion of dust was inversely proportional to its size. [3]
596 Scheila is a main-belt asteroid and main-belt comet orbiting the Sun. It was discovered on 21 February 1906 by August Kopff from Heidelberg. Kopff named the asteroid after a female English student with whom he was acquainted.
The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System located at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, US, consists of astronomical cameras, telescopes and a computing facility that is surveying the sky for moving or variable objects on a continual basis, and also producing accurate astrometry and photometry of already-detected objects. In January 2019 the second Pan-STARRS data release was announced. At 1.6 petabytes, it is the largest volume of astronomical data ever released.
Active asteroids are small Solar System bodies that have asteroid-like orbits but show comet-like visual characteristics. That is, they show a coma, tail, or other visual evidence of mass-loss, but their orbits remain within Jupiter's orbit. These bodies were originally designated main-belt comets (MBCs) in 2006 by astronomers David Jewitt and Henry Hsieh, but this name implies they are necessarily icy in composition like a comet and that they only exist within the main-belt, whereas the growing population of active asteroids shows that this is not always the case.
1109 Tata, provisional designation 1929 CU, is a dark Hygiean asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 69 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 February 1929, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Germany. The meaning of the asteroids's name is unknown.
1154 Astronomia, provisional designation 1927 CB, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 60 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 8 February 1927. The asteroid was named for the natural science of astronomy.
3267 Glo, provisional designation 1981 AA, is an eccentric Phocaean asteroid and sizable Mars-crosser from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6.4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 3 January 1981, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was later named after American astronomer Eleanor Helin.
1735 ITA (prov. designation: 1948 RJ1) is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 62 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 September 1948, by Soviet–Russian astronomer Pelageya Shajn at the Simeiz Observatory located on the Crimean peninsula. It was named for the Institute for Theoretical Astronomy (ITA) in what is now Saint Petersburg, Russia.
2156 Kate is a highly elongated background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. The asteroid was discovered on 23 September 1917, by Soviet–Russian astronomer Sergey Belyavsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. It was named for Kate Kristensen, wife of astronomer L. K. Kristensen. The bright S-type/A-type asteroid has a rotation period of 5.6 hours and measures approximately 8 kilometers in diameter.
1734 Zhongolovich, provisional designation 1928 TJ, is a carbonaceous Dorian asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 28 kilometers in diameter.
1339 Désagneauxa, provisional designation 1934 XB, is a stony Eoan asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 24 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 December 1934, by French astronomer Louis Boyer at the North African Algiers Observatory in Algeria. A few nights later, the asteroid was independently discovered by astronomers Grigory Neujmin and Eugène Delporte, at the Crimean Simeiz and Belgian Uccle Observatory, respectively. It was later named after discoverer's brother-in-law.
1947 Iso-Heikkilä, provisional designation 1935 EA, is a carbonaceous Eos asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 March 1935, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland. It was named after the location of the discovering observatory, which is also known as the "Iso-Heikkilä Observatory".
311P/PanSTARRS also known as P/2013 P5 (PanSTARRS) is an active asteroid discovered by Bryce T. Bolin using the Pan-STARRS telescope on 27 August 2013. Observations made by the Hubble Space Telescope revealed that it had six comet-like tails. The tails are suspected to be streams of material ejected by the asteroid as a result of a rubble pile asteroid spinning fast enough to remove material from it. This is similar to 331P/Gibbs, which was found to be a quickly-spinning rubble pile as well.
Comet 252P/LINEAR is a periodic comet and near-Earth object discovered by the LINEAR survey on April 7, 2000. The comet is a Jupiter family comet, meaning that it passes quite close to the orbit of Jupiter.
460P/PanSTARRS (also known with the provisional designation P/2016 BA14) is a near-Earth object and periodic comet of the Jupiter family, with an orbital period of 5.25 years. In March 2016 it passed at distance of 2.2 million miles (3.5 million km, or 9 lunar distances) from Earth. It was the closest approach by a comet since 1770 and 3rd closest recorded comet to Earth. The close flyby enabled the size of the nucleus to be calculated at about 1 km (0.62 mi) in diameter, which was much bigger than expected. The comet is very dark, reflecting about 2-3 percent of the visible light, about the same as a charcoal briquette. It has a very similar orbit as numbered comet 252P/LINEAR, and may be related to it (e.g. split off of).
C/2018 F4 (PanSTARRS) is a hyperbolic comet. It was discovered on 17 March 2018 when it was beyond the orbit of Jupiter, 6.4 AU (960 million km) from the Sun. It was quite far from the Sun and turned out to simply be an asteroidal object that was discovered before cometary activity was noticeable. As perihelion is inside the orbit of Jupiter, this object should become more active. In April 2018 it was determined to be a hyperbolic comet. Given that the incoming velocity was similar to that of an Oort cloud object, we can very confidently say that it is not of interstellar origin. C/2018 F4 fragmented around August 2020.
2I/Borisov, originally designated C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), is the first observed rogue comet and the second observed interstellar interloper after ʻOumuamua. It was discovered by the Crimean amateur astronomer and telescope maker Gennadiy Borisov on 29 August 2019 UTC.
P/2020 MK4 (PanSTARRS) is a Chiron-type comet or active centaur orbiting in the outer Solar System between Jupiter and Saturn. It was discovered on 24 June 2020, by the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii, United States.
C/2021 O3 (PanSTARRS) is perhaps an Oort cloud comet, discovered on 26 July 2021 by the Pan-STARRS sky survey. It came to perihelion on 21 April 2022 at 0.287 AU (42.9 million km). from the Sun.
P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) was an active main-belt asteroid that disintegrated from 2013 to 2014 due to the centrifugal breakup of its rapidly-rotating nucleus. It was discovered by astronomers of the Catalina and Pan-STARRS sky surveys on 15 September 2013. The disintegration of this asteroid ejected numerous fragments and dusty debris into space, which temporarily gave it a diffuse, comet-like appearance with a dust tail blown back by solar radiation pressure. Observations by ground-based telescopes in October 2013 revealed that P/2013 R3 had broken up into four major components, with later Hubble Space Telescope observations showing that these components have further broken up into at least thirteen smaller fragments ranging 100–400 meters (330–1,310 ft) in diameter. P/2013 R3 was never seen again after February 2014.
483P/PanSTARRS is a pair of active main-belt asteroids that split apart from each other in early 2010. The brightest and largest component of the pair, P/2016 J1-A, was discovered first by the Pan-STARRS 1 survey at Haleakalā Observatory on 5 May 2016. Follow-up observations by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory discovered the second component, P/2016 J1-B, on 6 May 2016. Both asteroids are smaller than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) in diameter, with P/2016 J1-A being roughly 0.6 km (0.37 mi) in diameter and P/2016 J1-B being roughly 0.3 km (0.19 mi) in diameter. The two components recurrently exhibit cometary activity as they approach the Sun near perihelion, suggesting that their activity is driven by sublimation of volatile compounds such as water.