2021MNRAS.506.1733M -
Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 506, 1733-1740 (2021/September-2)
Dust environment of active asteroids P/2019 A4 (PANSTARRS) and P/2021 A5 (PANSTARRS).
MORENO F., LICANDRO J., CABRERA-LAVERS A., MORATE D. and GUIRADO D.
Abstract (from CDS):
We report on the characterization of the dust activity and dynamical evolution of two faint active asteroids, P/2019 A4, and P/2021 A5, observed with the 10.4 m GTC using both imaging and spectroscopy. Asteroid P/2019 A4 activity is found to be linked to an impulsive event occurring some ±10 d around perihelion, probably due to a collision or a rotational disruption. Its orbit is stable over 100 Myr time-scales. Dust tail models reveal a short-term burst producing (2.0 ± 0.7) x 106 kg of dust for maximum particle radius rmax = 1 cm. The spectrum of P/2019 A4 is featureless, and slightly redder than the Sun. P/2021 A5 was active ∼50 d after perihelion, lasting ∼5 to ∼60 d, and ejecting (8 ± 2) x 106 kg of dust for rmax = 1 cm. The orbital simulations show that a few percent of dynamical clones of P/2021 A5 are unstable on 20-50 Myr time-scales. Thus, P/2021 A5 might be an implanted object from the JFC region or beyond. These facts point to water-ice sublimation as the activation mechanism. This object also displays a featureless spectrum, but slightly bluer than the Sun. Nuclei sizes are estimated in the few hundred meters range for both asteroids. Particle ejection speeds (≃0.2 m s–1) are consistent with escape speeds from those small-sized objects.
Abstract Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.
Journal keyword(s):
Minor planets - asteroids: individual: P/2019 A4P/2021 A5
Simbad objects:
2
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