Recently-Discovered Active Asteroid is in Fact Main-Belt Comet, Astronomers Say

Nov 26, 2024 - 08:45
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Recently-Discovered Active Asteroid is in Fact Main-Belt Comet, Astronomers Say
Images of 456P/PANSTARRS taken with the Magellan-Baade telescope in Chile on October 3, 2024, and the Lowell Discovery Telescope in Arizona on October 26, 2024, where the head, or nucleus, of the comet is at the center of each image, and the tail extends to the right. Image credit: Scott S. Sheppard / Carnegie Institution for Science / Audrey Thirouin, Lowell Observatory / Henry H. Hsieh, Planetary Science Institute.

456P/PANSTARRS, an active, main-belt asteroid first spotted in 2021, is recurrently active, and activity is likely driven by the sublimation of volatile ice, according to new observations from the Magellan-Baade telescope and the Lowell Discovery Telescope.

The post Recently-Discovered Active Asteroid is in Fact Main-Belt Comet, Astronomers Say appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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