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Abstract We present the discovery of a short, diffuse tail on minor planet 2010 MK43(alternate designation 2010 RA78)—an object previously identified as an asteroid in a cometary orbit—by volunteers of our Citizen Science programActive Asteroids. Our follow-up investigation revealed eight Dark Energy Camera images showing 2010 MK43with a tail spanning UT 2024 February 12–UT 2024 February 18 when the object was outbound from perihelion. We now classify 2010 MK43as a Jupiter-family comet based on its Tisserand parameter with respect to JupiterTJ = 2.888, though our dynamical simulations reveal that, due to frequent close encounters with Jupiter, 2010 MK43was likely a quasi-Hilda within the last 10 kyr.
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Cometary Activity from Minor Planet 2015 VP 51 Discovered with Citizen Science
Abstract We report the discovery of cometary activity emanating from minor planet 2015 VP51outbound from its recent perihelion passage. The activity, in the form of a diffuse tail, was first identified by volunteers of our Citizen Science programActive Asteroids, a NASA Partner program hosted on theZooniverseplatform. This discovery was aided by the recently implementedTailNetartificial intelligence assistant which filters out images with a low likelihood of showing cometary activity. The tail is present in nine images of 2015 VP51from the Dark Energy Camera and OmegaCAM between UT 2015 August 2 and UT 2015 October 18. We classify 2015 VP51as a Jupiter-family comet based on its Tisserand parameter with respect to JupiterTJ = 2.931.
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- PAR ID:
- 10541362
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Research Notes of the AAS
- Volume:
- 8
- Issue:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 2515-5172
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 225
- Size(s):
- Article No. 225
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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