Object 2005 QN137 is the eighth main belt asteroid of more than half a million asteroids. Astronomers confirm this asteroid has been active, even more than once. This kind of behavior indicates if the cause of the activity is due to the sublimation of the frozen material.
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Discovery of Rare Object 2005 QN137 in Solar System
Launching sci-news, this object was found active in data from the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey telescope. On July 7, 2021, the object’s heliocentric distance is 2.39 AU (astronomical units). Then it shows a straight and thin dust tail.
Dr. Henry Hsieh, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, said the cause of the 2005 QN137 object’s activity was the sublimation of icy material.
It is a main belt comet. Then it became one of about 20 objects they have now confirmed or suspected to be main belt comets. Included are some objects that are observed to be active once.
Hsieh presented the Physical Characterization of Main Belt Comet (248370) 2005 QN173. At a press conference at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences.
Object 2005 QN137 later as a comet and asteroid. More specifically the main belt asteroids that we are now familiar with as comets.
According to the physical definition of a comet, it most likely looks like ice. In addition, the object emits dust into space. Even though he doesn’t have an asteroid orbit.
Duality and blurring of boundaries that were previously separate objects, namely comets and asteroids. This is a vital part of what makes the object so attractive.
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Size 2005 QN137
Hsieh found the core size of object 2005 QN137 is 3.2 kilometers wide. Then the tail length is more than 720,000 kilometers in July 2021. The solid object at the head of the comet is surrounded by a cloud of dust.
Its length is equivalent to three times the distance from Earth to the Moon. While the tail at that time was only 1,400 kilometers wide.
This very narrow tail indicates that the dust particles barely float out of the nucleus. At a very slow speed. Then the flow of gas coming out of the comet, usually will lift dust into space, but very weak.
This weak velocity will generally make it difficult for dust to escape the gravity of the core. So, there’s something else that can help clear the dust in the 2005 QN137 object.
According to Hsieh, the nucleus can rotate rapidly to help blow dust into space and some of it has been pushed away by the ejected gas.
Orbit Asteroid
Main belt asteroids orbiting Mars and Jupiter, possibly in the warm inner Solar System. We can see it in Jupiter’s orbit for the last 4.6 billion years.
This phenomenon occurs in quite a long time since the existence of objects near the Sun for a long time. That is, comet activity is not actually expected from these objects.
As we have seen before, the cause of comet activity is usually the transformation of ice into gas. Occurs on object 2005 QN137 in the Solar System. So most comets come from cold places outside the Solar System or beyond the orbit of Neptune.
These objects spend most of the time there. Their orbits are elongated and bring them closer to the Sun and Earth in no time.
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Hsieh said that as long as the object is close enough to the sun, it will heat up and release gas and dust. The incident was the result of the sublimation of the ice, even resulting in a hazy appearance.
However, in recent years there have been some rare objects. Astronomers found it to be a main belt comet. Hsieh and David Jewitt became the first discoverers in 2006 of a new class of comets.
Interestingly, these objects originate from asteroid collisions and major asteroid belts when the Earth is formed.
Because the observed activity of this object may still contain ice, the team offers a potential way to test the hypothesis. Then learn more about the origin of life on Earth.
In addition, it is necessary to study more complexly about the abundance, distribution, physical properties of objects and objects in the inner Solar System. Observations of object 2005 QN137 are essential to confirm the rotational speed of the nucleus.
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