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Abstract We report that minor planet 2004 CV50displayed cometary activity in the form of a short, diffuse tail, first identified by volunteers of the Citizen Science programActive Asteroids, a NASA Partner program hosted on theZooniverseonline platform. The activity is present in three images, from UT 2020 February 15 and UT 2020 March 14, that were acquired with the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4 m telescope at the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. We find that 2004 CV50is most likely an active quasi-Hilda object rather than an active asteroid, despite 2004 CV50having a Tisserand parameter with respect to Jupiter of 3.06.
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Citizen Scientists Discover “Asteroid in a Cometary Orbit” 2010 MK 43 has a Comet Tail
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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- PAR ID:
- 10543150
- 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. 235
- Size(s):
- Article No. 235
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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