A SHORT-DURATION EVENT AS THE CAUSE OF DUST EJECTION FROM MAIN-BELT COMET P/2012 F5 (GIBBS)
- Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomia s/n, E-18008 Granada (Spain)
- Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, c/Via Lactea s/n, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)
We present observations and an interpretative model of the dust environment of the Main-Belt Comet P/2010 F5 (Gibbs). The narrow dust trails observed can be interpreted unequivocally as an impulsive event that took place around 2011 July 1 with an uncertainty of {+-}10 days, and a duration of less than a day, possibly of the order of a few hours. The best Monte Carlo dust model fits to the observed trail brightness imply ejection velocities in the range 8-10 cm s{sup -1} for particle sizes between 30 cm and 130 {mu}m. This weak dependence of velocity on size contrasts with that expected from ice sublimation and agrees with that found recently for (596) Scheila, a likely impacted asteroid. The particles seen in the trail are found to follow a power-law size distribution of index Almost-Equal-To -3.7. Assuming that the slowest particles were ejected at the escape velocity of the nucleus, its size is constrained to about 200-300 m in diameter. The total ejected dust mass is {approx}> 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 8} kg, which represents approximately 4%-20% of the nucleus mass.
- OSTI ID:
- 22078386
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 761, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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FAST ROTATION AND TRAILING FRAGMENTS OF THE ACTIVE ASTEROID P/2012 F5 (GIBBS)
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