483P/PanSTARRS
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope image of split asteroid pair P/2016 J1 on 6 May 2016, showing comet-like tails on both components | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Pan-STARRS 1 |
| Discovery site | Haleakalā Observatory |
| Discovery date | 5 May 2016 |
| Designations | |
| P/2016 J1 (PanSTARRS) | |
| Orbital characteristics (fragment A) | |
| Epoch | 21 June 2016 (JD 2457560.5) |
| Observation arc | 153 days (A) 140 days (B) |
| Earliest precovery date | 4 March 2016 |
| Orbit type | main-belt (outer) · Encke-type · periodic |
| Aphelion | 3.896 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.448 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.172 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.2283 |
| Orbital period | 5.65 yr (2,064 days) |
| Inclination | 14.330° |
| 199.856° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 46.585° |
| Last perihelion | 24 June 2016 |
| TJupiter | 3.113 |
| Earth MOID | 1.461 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.227 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | <0.62+0.18 −0.10 km (A): 18 <0.34+0.12 −0.06 m (B): 18 |
| 0.04 (assumed) | |
| C/G B–V = 0.74±0.04 (A) B–V = 0.74±0.12 (B) V–R = 0.36±0.04 (A) V–R = 0.39±0.12 (B) | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 16.4±0.4 (A) 17.3±0.8 (B) |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | >19.95+0.18 −0.16 (A): 18 >21.26+0.23 −0.26 (B): 18 |
483P/PanSTARRS (provisional designation P/2016 J1) is a pair of active main-belt asteroids that split apart from each other in early 2010. The brightest and largest component of the pair, P/2016 J1-A, was discovered first by the Pan-STARRS 1 survey at Haleakalā Observatory on 5 May 2016. Follow-up observations by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory discovered the second component, P/2016 J1-B, on 6 May 2016. Both asteroids are smaller than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) in diameter, with P/2016 J1-A being roughly 0.6 km (0.37 mi) in diameter and P/2016 J1-B being roughly 0.3 km (0.19 mi) in diameter.: 18 The two components recurrently exhibit cometary activity as they approach the Sun near perihelion, suggesting that their activity is driven by sublimation of volatile compounds such as water.