Pan-STARRS 1 observations of the unusual active Centaur P/2011 S1(Gibbs)
| Autor: | Lin, H. W., Chen, Y. T., Lacerda, P., Ip, W. H., Holman, M., Protopapas, P., Chen, W. P., Burgett, W. S., Chambers, K. C., Flewelling, H., Huber, M. E., Jedicke, R., Kaiser, N., Magnier, E. A., Metcalfe, N., Price, P. A. |
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| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: | |
| Druh dokumentu: | Working Paper |
| DOI: | 10.1088/0004-6256/147/5/114 |
| Popis: | P/2011 S1 (Gibbs) is an outer solar system comet or active Centaur with a similar orbit to that of the famous 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1. P/2011 S1 (Gibbs) has been observed by the Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1) sky survey from 2010 to 2012. The resulting data allow us to perform multi-color studies of the nucleus and coma of the comet. Analysis of PS1 images reveals that P/2011 S1 (Gibbs) has a small nucleus $< 4$ km radius, with colors $g_{P1}-r_{P1} = 0.5 \pm 0.02$, $r_{P1}-i_{P1} = 0.12 \pm 0.02$ and $i_{P1}-z_{P1} = 0.46 \pm 0.03$. The comet remained active from 2010 to 2012, with a model-dependent mass-loss rate of $\sim100$ kg s$^{-1}$. The mass-loss rate per unit surface area of P/2011 S1 (Gibbs) is as high as that of 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, making it one of the most active Centaurs. The mass-loss rate also varies with time from $\sim 40$ kg s$^{-1}$ to 150 kg s$^{-1}$. Due to its rather circular orbit, we propose that P/2011 S1 (Gibbs) has 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1-like outbursts that control the outgassing rate. The results indicate that it may have a similar surface composition to that of 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1. Our numerical simulations show that the future orbital evolution of P/2011 S1 (Gibbs) is more similar to that of the main population of Centaurs than to that of 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1. The results also demonstrate that P/2011 S1 (Gibbs) is dynamically unstable and can only remain near its current orbit for roughly a thousand years. Comment: 30 pages, 6 figures, Accepted to AJ |
| Databáze: | arXiv |
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