Asteroid 596 Scheila's new tail...

[RussD]

Looks like asteroid 596 Scheila has sprouted a spiral tail!

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Russ

[Kurt A. Casby]

So, what are you betting, Comet or impact?

Have there been other such discoveries that would give one a better idea of the odds?

Are you going to take a shot at this object?

Clear Skies,
Kurt

[RussD]

Here is an image from last night:

[album]1651[/album]

This is a median combine of 30 minutes total with 1 minute sub frames. The asteroid moved a bit so it has a little streak to it.

The large spiral structure there is only partly real. I botched my flats creating a dark hole in the middle of the image right underneath the asteroid and a bright gradient in the larger image. So while the bright area near the asteroid is real, I am less certain about the larger spiral. It could be real, but it is more likely an unlucky artifact from my flat. I will try again on the next clear night. I am pretty sure there was frost or maybe flocking falling into the optical path.

To answer your question. It could be either. It would only take a small impact from an object a few meters across to do this. The fact is that we just dont know how many tiny sub km objects are out there and what the impact probability is. While I kind of doubt it was an impactor, it certainly could be. The object could also be a rare comet. The rotational period is known 15.8hrs. I wonder if the light curve has some clues.

Remember the man made impact on 9P/Tempel a few years ago. That object was a few feet wide and it made a similar tail. Also, there was a discovery last spring from Hubble showing a probable impact on an asteroid that created a curious X shaped tail. As usual, more data is needed to see what the likely explanation would be.

Russ

[RussD]

I reworked the image with a new flat and the results look a bit more like what others are seeing. I still have a light leak somewhere in my system, but this is looking a bit better.

[album]1652[/album]



Russ