Abbreviated Journal Title
Astrophys. J. Lett.
Keywords
comets: general; minor planets, asteroids: general; ASTEROID 596 SCHEILA; INFRARED OBSERVATIONS; PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES; 133P/ELST-PIZARRO; ORIGIN; PERFORMANCE; FAMILIES; SYSTEM; LIMITS; TRAIL; Astronomy & Astrophysics
Abstract
The main-belt asteroid (300163) 2006 VW139 (later designated P/2006 VW139) was discovered to exhibit comet-like activity by the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) survey telescope using automated point-spread-function analyses performed by PS1's Moving Object Processing System. Deep follow-up observations show both a short (similar to 10 '') antisolar dust tail and a longer (similar to 60 '') dust trail aligned with the object's orbit plane, similar to the morphology observed for another main-belt comet (MBC), P/2010 R2 (La Sagra), and other well-established comets, implying the action of a long-lived, sublimation-driven emission event. Photometry showing the brightness of the near-nucleus coma remaining constant over similar to 30 days provides further evidence for this object's cometary nature, suggesting it is in fact an MBC, and not a disrupted asteroid. A spectroscopic search for CN emission was unsuccessful, though we find an upper limit CN production rate of Q(CN) < 1.3 x 10(24) mol s(-1), from which we infer a water production rate of Q(H2O) < 10(26) mol s(-1). We also find an approximately linear optical spectral slope of 7.2%/1000 angstrom, similar to other cometary dust comae. Numerical simulations indicate that P/2006 VW139 is dynamically stable for > 100 Myr, while a search for a potential asteroid family around the object reveals a cluster of 24 asteroids within a cutoff distance of 68 m s(-1). At 70 m s(-1), this cluster merges with the Themis family, suggesting that it could be similar to the Beagle family to which another MBC, 133P/Elst-Pizarro, belongs.
Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume
748
Issue/Number
1
Publication Date
1-1-2012
Document Type
Article
Language
English
First Page
7
WOS Identifier
ISSN
2041-8205
Recommended Citation
Hsieh, Henry H.; Yang, Bin; Haghighipour, Nader; Kaluna, Heather M.; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Novaković, Bojan; Jedicke, Robert; Wainscoat, Richard J.; Armstrong, James D.; Duddy, Samuel R.; Lowry, Stephen C.; Trujillo, Chadwick A.; Micheli, Marco; Keane, Jacqueline V.; Urban, Laurie; Riesen, Timm; Meech, Karen J.; Abe, Shinsuke; Cheng, Yu-Chi; Chen, Wen-Ping; Granvik, Mikael; Grav, Tommy; Ip, Wing-Huen; Kinoshita, Daisuke; Kleyna, Jan; Lacerda, Pedro; Lister, Tim; Milani, Andrea; Tholen, David J.; Vereš, Peter; Lisse, Carey M.; Kelley, Michael S.; Fernández, Yanga R.; Bhatt, Bhuwan C.; Sahu, Devendra K.; Kaiser, Nick; Chambers, K. C.; Hodapp, Klaus W.; Magnier, Eugene A.; Price, Paul A.; and Tonry, John L., "Discovery of Main-Belt Comet P/2006 Vw139 By Pan-Starrs1" (2012). Faculty Bibliography 2010s. 2762.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/facultybib2010/2762
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