MAIN-BELT COMET P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS)

Journal Article · Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/771/1/L1· OSTI ID:22118736

Hsieh, Henry H.; Kaluna, Heather M.; Bin, Yang; Haghighipour, Nader; Micheli, Marco; Denneau, Larry; Jedicke, Robert; Kleyna, Jan; Veres, Peter; Wainscoat, Richard J.; Ansdell, Megan; Elliott, Garrett T.; Keane, Jacqueline V.; Meech, Karen J.; Riesen, Timm E.; Sonnett, Sarah ^[1]; Novakovic, Bojan ^[2]; Fitzsimmons, Alan ^[3]; Moskovitz, Nicholas A. ^[4]; others, and

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1. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
2. Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade (Serbia)
3. Astrophysics Research Centre, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN (United Kingdom)
4. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

We present initial results from observations and numerical analyses aimed at characterizing the main-belt comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS). Optical monitoring observations were made between 2012 October and 2013 February using the University of Hawaii 2.2 m telescope, the Keck I telescope, the Baade and Clay Magellan telescopes, Faulkes Telescope South, the Perkins Telescope at Lowell Observatory, and the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope. The object's intrinsic brightness approximately doubles from the time of its discovery in early October until mid-November and then decreases by {approx}60% between late December and early February, similar to photometric behavior exhibited by several other main-belt comets and unlike that exhibited by disrupted asteroid (596) Scheila. We also used Keck to conduct spectroscopic searches for CN emission as well as absorption at 0.7 {mu}m that could indicate the presence of hydrated minerals, finding an upper limit CN production rate of Q{sub CN} < 1.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 23} mol s{sup -1}, from which we infer a water production rate of Q{sub H{sub 2O}}<5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 25} mol s{sup -1}, and no evidence of the presence of hydrated minerals. Numerical simulations indicate that P/2012 T1 is largely dynamically stable for >100 Myr and is unlikely to be a recently implanted interloper from the outer solar system, while a search for potential asteroid family associations reveals that it is dynamically linked to the {approx}155 Myr old Lixiaohua asteroid family.

• OSTI ID: 22118736
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 771, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ABSORPTION
APPROXIMATIONS
ASTEROIDS
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
BRIGHTNESS
CARBON NITRIDES
COMETS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CYANIDES
ION EMISSION
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
PLANETS
SOLAR SYSTEM
TELESCOPES
WATER