Asteroid Collision May Have Created Comet-like Object

By Nancy Atkinson - January 19, 2010 at 7:19 PM UTC | Planetary Science
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A strange comet-like object discovered on

January 6, 2010

may actually be the result of an asteroid collision. Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research

(LINEAR)

sky survey in New Mexico spotted an object in the asteroid belt, called P/2010 A that looked "fuzzy," with a tail like a comet rather than a speck of light like a normal asteroid. But comets don't normally reside in the asteroid belt, and the object's orbit is all wrong for a comet. While the asteroid belt is made up of debris from the "leftovers" of our solar system, and like the remains of early crashes between giant rocks, astronomers haven't witnessed a collision before.

Other comet/asteroid crossbreeds have been seen previously,

such as the Comet P/1996 N2 discovered in 1996, but astronomers are keeping a close eye on this latest oddball, as they believe the best explanation is that collision took place between two asteroids deep in space, about 250 million miles away from Earth. If they are right, it will be the first confirmed high-speed crash ever witnessed between massive space rocks.

Sky and Telescope

reports that the comet specialists are hoping to observe the strange goings-on with both the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. Neither has been given the green light yet, but if/when that happens the observations would be made within the next few days.

Sources:

Skymania

,

Sky & Telescope

,

Discovery Space

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com