A collision in 2009 as the origin of the debris trail of asteroid P/2010 A2

Colin, M. and Tubiana, Cecilia and Vincent, Jean-Baptiste and Sierks, Holger and Hviid, Stubbe and Moissl, Richard and Boehnhardt, Herrmann and Barbieri, Cesare and Koschny, Detlef and Lamy, Philippe and Rickman, Hans and Rodrigo, Rafael and Carry, Benoit and Lowry, Stephen C. and Laird, Ryan J. M. and Weissman, Paul R. and Fitzsimmons, Alan and Marchi, Simone and Hearn, M. A. and Angrilli, F. and Barucci, A. and Bertaux, J.-L. and Cremonese, G. and Da Deppo, V. and Davidson, B. and Debei, S. and De Cecco, M. and Fornasier, S and Gutierrez, P. and IP, W.-H. and Keller, H. U. and Knollenberg, J. and Kramm, J. R. and Kuehrt, E. and Kueppers, M. and Lara, L. M. and Lazzarin, M. and Lopez-Moreno, J. J. and Marzari, F. and Michalik, H. and Naletto, G. and Sabau, L. and Thomas, N. and Wenzel, K.-P. (2010) A collision in 2009 as the origin of the debris trail of asteroid P/2010 A2. Nature, 467 (7317), pp. 814-816. DOI: 10.1038/nature09453.

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Abstract

The peculiar object P/2010 A2 was discovered1 in January 2010 and given a cometary designation because of the presence of a trail of material, although there was no central condensation or coma. The appearance of this object, in an asteroidal orbit (small eccentricity and inclination) in the inner main asteroid belt attracted attention as a potential new member of the recently recognized2 class of main-belt comets. If confirmed, this new object would expand the range in heliocentric distance over which main-belt comets are found. Here we report observations of P/2010 A2 by the Rosetta spacecraft. We conclude that the trail arose from a single event, rather than a period of cometary activity, in agreement with independent results3. The trail is made up of relatively large particles of millimetre to centimetre size that remain close to the parent asteroid. The shape of the trail can be explained by an initial impact ejecting large clumps of debris that disintegrated and dispersed almost immediately. We determine that this was an asteroid collision that occurred around 10 February 2009.

Document Type:

Article

Title:

A collision in 2009 as the origin of the debris trail of asteroid P/2010 A2

Authors:

Authors	Institution or Email of Authors
Colin, M.	MPI für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
Tubiana, Cecilia	MPI für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
Vincent, Jean-Baptiste	MPI für Sonnensystemforschung
Sierks, Holger	MPI für Sonnensystemforschung
Hviid, Stubbe	MPI für Sonnensystemforschung
Moissl, Richard	MPI für Sonnensystemforschung
Boehnhardt, Herrmann	MPI für Sonnensystemforschung
Barbieri, Cesare	University of Padua, Dept. of Astronomy, Padova, Italy
Koschny, Detlef	Research and Scientific Support Dept, ESA, Noordwik, The Netherlands
Lamy, Philippe	Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France
Rickman, Hans	Uppsala Univ., Dept. of Astronomy and Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden
Rodrigo, Rafael	Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC, Granada, Spain
Carry, Benoit	LESIA Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, Meudon, France
Lowry, Stephen C.	Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Univ. of Kent, Canterbury, UK
Laird, Ryan J. M.	Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Univ. of Kent, Canterbury, UK
Weissman, Paul R.	JPL, Pasadena, USA
Fitzsimmons, Alan	Astrophysics Research Centre, Queen's univ. Belfast, UK
Marchi, Simone	University of Padua, Dept. of Astronomy, Padova, Italy
Hearn, M. A.	Univ. of Maryland, Dept. of Astronomy, Maryland, USA
Angrilli, F.	Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Univ. of Padua, Padua, Italy
Barucci, A.	LESIA Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, Meudon, France
Bertaux, J.-L.	LATMOS, CNRS/UVSQ/IPSL, Guyancourt, France
Cremonese, G.	INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Padova, Italy
Da Deppo, V.	CNR-IFN UOS Padova LUXOR, Padova, Italy
Davidson, B.	Uppsala Univ., Dept. of Astronomy and Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden
Debei, S.	Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Univ. of Padua, Padua, Italy
De Cecco, M.	UNITN, Univ. di Trento, Trento, Italy
Fornasier, S	LESIA Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, Meudon, France
Gutierrez, P.	Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC, Granada, Spain
IP, W.-H.	Nationa Central Univ., Institute of Astronomy, Chung-Li, Taiwan
Keller, H. U.	TU Braunschweig, Germany
Knollenberg, J.	joerg.knollenberg@dlr.de
Kramm, J. R.	MPI für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
Kuehrt, E.	ekkehard.kuehrt@dlr.de
Kueppers, M.	ESA-ESAC, Camino bajo del Castillo, Madrid, Spain
Lara, L. M.	Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC, Granada, Spain
Lazzarin, M.	University of Padua, Dept. of Astronomy, Padova, Italy
Lopez-Moreno, J. J.	Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC, Granada, Spain
Marzari, F.	Univ. of Padova, Dept. of Physics, Padova, Italy
Michalik, H.	TU Braunschweig, Germany
Naletto, G.	Univ. of Padova, Dept. of Information Engineering, Padova, Italy
Sabau, L.	Instituto National de Tecnica Aerospacial, Madrid, Spain
Thomas, N.	Univ. Beern, Physikalisches Institut, Bern, Switzerland
Wenzel, K.-P.	Research and Scientific Support Dept, ESA, Noordwik, The Netherlands

Date:

2010

Journal or Publication Title:

Nature

Refereed publication:

Yes

In Open Access:

In SCOPUS:

Yes

In ISI Web of Science:

Yes

Volume:

467

DOI:

10.1038/nature09453

Page Range:

pp. 814-816

Status:

Published

Keywords:

Asteroid P/2010 A2

HGF - Research field:

Aeronautics, Space and Transport

HGF - Program:

Space

HGF - Program Themes:

W EW - Erforschung des Weltraums

DLR - Research area:

Space

DLR - Program:

W EW - Erforschung des Weltraums

DLR - Research theme (Project):

W - Projekt AsteroidenFinder - Instrumente (old)

Location:

Berlin-Adlershof

Institutes and Institutions:

Institute of Planetary Research > Asteroids and Comets

Deposited By:

Laura-Maria Brumm

Deposited On:

03 Jan 2011 20:16

Last Modified:

26 Mar 2013 13:22

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