The Asteroid with a Tail
December 24th 2010 13:42
Category: No Category
Asteroid 596 Scheila
What makes a rather ordinary asteroid suddenly shed what seems to gaseous debris.?
Asteroid 596 Scheila, normally looks like any other asteroid usually “star’ like on December 15th the asteroid developed a gaseous mantle engulfing the asteroid like a faint cloud.
A group of astronomers confirmed the cometary appearance around the asteroid having, a distinct arc of matter jetting out toward the rear of the asteroid.The asteroid was discovered by August Kopff Heidelberg 1906.
The asteroid was imaged 2005-06 and showed nothing out of the ordinary. Asteroid Scheila was a well behaved main-belt body object that has a 5-year-long orbit around the Sun.
What made this somewhat ordinary run-of- the- mill asteroid behave in this usual manner?
Early spectra analysis conducted on asteroid Scheila suggests that it's a rare T type asteroid.
This type of asteroid have dark surfaces that show a close spectral match to that of a bare cometary nucleus. Perhaps this “asteroid is not an asteroid but a dormant comet If Scheila a “dormant” comet then it's a big one current estimates on asteroid 596 Scheila put its diameter at 70 miles (113 km).
There is another possibility that may solve this mystery of the sudden “cloud like appearance.”
If the asteroid was impacted by another object then this would account for the sudden brightness and the cloud like “tail” appearance. For the moment the mystery surrounding Scheila's shroud will need further investigation.
Recent analysis conducted in the last few days suggests that Asteroid 596 Scheila may have been struck by another object, perhaps a smaller asteroid.
Image credit Kevin Heider
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Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Have a merry Christmas and may your new year be a cosmic delight!
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
Camera Sense
Season's greetings to you and family.
We will see what the new year brings us.