The Asteroid-Comet Continuum

Jewitt, David; Hsieh, Henry H.

doi:10.48550/arxiv.2203.01397

“…This suggestion is ad-hoc in the specific case of 'Oumuamua, but measurements of some weakly active comets (e.g. Ishiguro et al (2007)) and active asteroids (Jewitt & Hsieh (2022)) indeed indicate mean particle radii of 10 2 µm and greater. The physical explanation for this is not well understood, but a possible cause is that inter-particle cohesion (which itself varies as 1/a) prevents small particles from escaping into the coma under the action of weak gas drag, leaving only the large particles to be ejected (Skorov & Blum 2012).…”

Section: Recoil From Outgassingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Interstellar Interlopers

Jewitt¹,

Seligman²

2022

Preprint

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Interstellar interlopers are bodies formed outside of the solar system but observed passing through it. The first two identified interlopers, 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, exhibited unexpectedly different physical properties. 1I/'Oumuamua appeared unresolved and asteroid-like whereas 2I/Borisov was a more comet-like source of both gas and dust. Both objects moved under the action of non-gravitational acceleration. These interlopers and their divergent properties provide our only window so far onto an enormous and previously unknown galactic population. The number density of such objects is ∼ 0.1 AU −3 which, if uniform across the galactic disk, would imply 10 25 to 10 26 similar objects in the Milky Way. The interlopers likely formed in, and were ejected from, the protoplanetary disks of young stars. However, we currently possess too little data to firmly reject other explanations.

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“…Although the first active member of the main asteroid belt was found in 1979 (originally discovered as 1979 OW 7 , rediscovered as 1996 N 2 , and now known as comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro, see, for example, Jewitt et al 2014), the nature of this population remained ambiguous. It was not until some time later that it became clear that a population of comets was present in the main asteroid belt (Hsieh and Jewitt 2006;Jewitt and Hsieh 2022). Only a very small fraction of the known members of the asteroid belt has been found to display comet-like features.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent arrivals to the main asteroid belt

Marcos

¹

,

Marcos

²

2022

Celest Mech Dyn Astron

0

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The region where the main asteroid belt is now located may have started empty, to become populated early in the history of the Solar system with material scattered outward by the terrestrial planets and inward by the giant planets. These dynamical pathways toward the main belt may still be active today. Here, we present results from a data mining experiment aimed at singling out present-day members of the main asteroid belt that may have reached the belt during the last few hundred years. Probable newcomers include 2003 $$\hbox {BM}_{1}$$ BM 1 , 2007 $$\hbox {RS}_{62}$$ RS 62 , 457175 (2008 $$\hbox {GO}_{98}$$ GO 98 ), 2010 $$\hbox {BG}_{18}$$ BG 18 , 2010 $$\hbox {JC}_{58}$$ JC 58 , 2010 $$\hbox {JV}_{52}$$ JV 52 , 2010 $$\hbox {KS}_{6}$$ KS 6 , 2010 $$\hbox {LD}_{74}$$ LD 74 , 2010 $$\hbox {OX}_{38}$$ OX 38 , 2011 $$\hbox {QQ}_{99}$$ QQ 99 , 2013 $$\hbox {HT}_{149}$$ HT 149 , 2015 $$\hbox {BH}_{103}$$ BH 103 , 2015 $$\hbox {BU}_{525}$$ BU 525 , 2015 $$\hbox {RO}_{127}$$ RO 127 , 2015 $$\hbox {RS}_{139}$$ RS 139 , 2016 $$\hbox {PC}_{41}$$ PC 41 , 2016 $$\hbox {UU}_{231}$$ UU 231 , 2020 $$\hbox {SA}_{75}$$ SA 75 , 2020 $$\hbox {UO}_{43}$$ UO 43 , and 2021 $$\hbox {UJ}_{5}$$ UJ 5 , all of them in the outer belt. Some of these candidates may have been inserted in their current orbits after experiencing relatively recent close encounters with Jupiter. We also investigated the likely source regions of such new arrivals. Asteroid 2020 $$\hbox {UO}_{43}$$ UO 43 , if real, has a non-negligible probability of having an origin in the Oort cloud or even interstellar space. Asteroid 2003 $$\hbox {BM}_{1}$$ BM 1 may have come from the neighborhood of Uranus. However, most newcomers—including 457175, 2011 $$\hbox {QQ}_{99}$$ QQ 99 , and 2021 $$\hbox {UJ}_{5}$$ UJ 5 —might have had an origin in Centaur orbital space. The reliability of these findings is assessed within the context of the uncertainties of the available orbit determinations.

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“…Moreover, the origin of solar system volatiles, including terrestrial water, remains inconclusive. Investigating sublimation-driven active solar system bodies can help answer these questions (Hsieh & Jewitt 2006;Jewitt & Hsieh 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migratory Outbursting Quasi-Hilda Object 282P/(323137) 2003 BM80* **

Chandler

¹

,

Oldroyd

²

,

Trujillo

³

2022

ApJL

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We report that object 282P/(323137) 2003 BM80 is undergoing a sustained activity outburst, lasting over 15 months thus far. These findings stem in part from our NASA Partner Citizen Science project Active Asteroids (http://activeasteroids.net), which we introduce here. We acquired new observations of 282P via our observing campaign (Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT), Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT), and the Gemini South telescope), confirming 282P was active on UT 2022 June 7, some 15 months after 2021 March images showed activity in the 2021–2022 epoch. We classify 282P as a member of the quasi-Hilda objects (QHOs), a group of dynamically unstable objects found in an orbital region similar to, but distinct in their dynamical characteristics to, the Hilda asteroids (objects in 3:2 resonance with Jupiter). Our dynamical simulations show 282P has undergone at least five close encounters with Jupiter and one with Saturn over the last 180 yr. 282P was most likely a Centaur or Jupiter-family comet (JFC) 250 yr ago. In 350 yr, following some 15 strong Jovian interactions, 282P will most likely migrate to become a JFC or, less likely, an outer main-belt asteroid orbit. These migrations highlight a dynamical pathway connecting Centaurs and JFCs with quasi-Hildas and, potentially, active asteroids. Synthesizing these results with our thermodynamical modeling and new activity observations, we find volatile sublimation is the primary activity mechanism. Observations of a quiescent 282P, which we anticipate will be possible in 2023, will help confirm our hypothesis by measuring a rotation period and ascertaining the spectral type.

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The Asteroid-Comet Continuum

Cited by 21 publications

References 199 publications

The Interstellar Interlopers

The Interstellar Interlopers

Recent arrivals to the main asteroid belt

Migratory Outbursting Quasi-Hilda Object 282P/(323137) 2003 BM80* **

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