{"id":4463,"date":"2013-09-14T16:29:06","date_gmt":"2013-09-14T16:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=4463"},"modified":"2013-09-14T16:29:06","modified_gmt":"2013-09-14T16:29:06","slug":"third-largest-neo-discovered-to-be-a-comet-not-an-asteroid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=4463","title":{"rendered":"Third largest NEO discovered to be a comet, not an asteroid"},"content":{"rendered":"

The near earth object\u00a03552 Don Quixote<\/a> is found to be a comet rather than an asteroid:<\/p>\n

Professor Helps to Discover Near-Earth Asteroid Is Really a Comet
\n– Tennessee Today<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Some things are not always what they seem\u2014even in space. For thirty years, scientists believed a large near-Earth object was an asteroid. Now, an international team including Joshua Emery, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences at UT, has discovered it is actually a comet.<\/p>\n

Called 3552 Don Quixote, the body is the third largest near-Earth object\u2014mostly rocky bodies, or asteroids, that orbit the Sun in the vicinity of Earth. About 5 percent of near-Earth objects are thought to be \u201cdead\u201d comets that have shed all the water and carbon dioxide in the form of ice that give them their coma\u2014a cloud surrounding the comet nucleus\u2014and tail.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\"donquixote_orbit\"<\/a>This image displays Don Quixote\u2019s orbit.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The team found that Don Quixote is neither. It is, in fact, an active comet, thus likely containing water ice and not just rocks. The finding will be presented at the European Planetary Science Congress 2013 in London today, Sept. 10. The discovery could hold implications for the origin of water on Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon Quixote has always been recognized as an oddball,\u201d said Emery. \u201cIts orbit brings it close to Earth, but also takes it way out past Jupiter. Such a vast orbit is similar to a comet\u2019s, not an asteroid\u2019s, which tend to be more circular\u2014so people thought it was one that had shed all its ice deposits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using the Spitzer Space Telescope operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology under contract with NASA, the team\u2014led by Michael Mommert of Northern Arizona University\u2014reexamined images of Don Quixote from 2009 when it was in the part of its orbit closest to the Sun, and found it had a coma and a faint tail.<\/p>\n

Emery also reexamined images from 2004, when it was at its farthest distance from the sun, and determined that the surface is composed of silicate dust, which is similar to comet dust. He also determined that Don Quixote did not have a coma or tail at this distance, which is common for comets because they need the sun\u2019s radiation to form the coma and the sun\u2019s charged particles to form the tail. The researchers also confirmed Don Quixote\u2019s size and the low, comet-like reflectivity of its surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe power of the Spitzer telescope allowed us to spot the coma and tail, which was not possible using optical telescopes on the ground,\u201d said Emery. \u201cWe now think this body contains a lot of ice, including carbon dioxide and\/or carbon monoxide ice, rather than just being rocky.\u201d<\/p>\n

This discovery implies that carbon dioxide and water ice might be present within other near-Earth asteroids, as well. It also may have implications for the origins of water on Earth as comets may be the source of at least some of it, and the amount on Don Quixote represents about 100 billion tons of water\u2014roughly the same amount that can be found in Lake Tahoe.<\/p>\n

The project was funded by NASA\u2019s Spitzer Space Telescope project and the German Research Foundation. Co-authors are Joseph Hora and Howard Smith, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Alan Harris, German Aerospace Center; William Reach, Universities Space Research Association; Cristina Thomas, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Michael Mueller, Space Research Organization Netherlands ; Dale Cruikshank, NASA Ames Research Center; David Trilling, Northern Arizona University; and Marco Delbo\u2019, Observatoire de la C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The near earth object\u00a03552 Don Quixote is found to be a comet rather than an asteroid: Professor Helps to Discover Near-Earth Asteroid Is Really a Comet – Tennessee Today Some things are not always what they seem\u2014even in space. For thirty years, scientists believed a large near-Earth object was an asteroid. Now, an international team … Continue reading Third largest NEO discovered to be a comet, not an asteroid<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asteroids","category-space-science"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-19Z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14947,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14947","url_meta":{"origin":4463,"position":0},"title":"Hubble observes unusual asteroid pair with comet-like coma and tail","author":"TopSpacer","date":"September 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Hubble telescope spots an unusual pair of asteroids that orbit each other and also emit water vapor like the coma and tail\u00a0of a comet: Hubble discovers a unique type of object in the Solar System\u00a0 With the help of the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, a German-led group of astronomers have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asteroids & Comets"","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids & Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/heic1715a1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/heic1715a1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/heic1715a1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/heic1715a1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15126,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=15126","url_meta":{"origin":4463,"position":1},"title":"Small asteroid or comet from interstellar space makes quick visit to our solar system","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are details from NASA about that object said to be passing by from beyond our solar system: Small Asteroid or Comet 'Visits' from Beyond the Solar System https:\/\/youtu.be\/q4EtUH1O7ac This animation shows the path of A\/2017 U1, which is an asteroid -- or perhaps a comet -- as it passed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asteroids & Comets"","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids & Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/comet20171025-161.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/comet20171025-161.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/comet20171025-161.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/comet20171025-161.gif?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/comet20171025-161.gif?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/comet20171025-161.gif?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14241,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14241","url_meta":{"origin":4463,"position":2},"title":"Video: NASA radar images Asteroid 2014 JO25 before it passes near earth","author":"TopSpacer","date":"April 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA has released images and a short video clip of radar observations made this week of Asteroid 2014 JO25, which will make a flyby of earth\u00a0today: NASA Radar Spots Relatively Large Asteroid Prior to Flyby https:\/\/youtu.be\/usPrwjyggEM?list=PLTiv_XWHnOZoFCYPi25rbz5gMM01ZHY-1 Radar images of asteroid 2014 JO25 were obtained in the early morning hours on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asteroids & Comets"","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids & Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/asteroidjo25-201704181-1024x853.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16138,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16138","url_meta":{"origin":4463,"position":3},"title":"Videos: Boulder-sized asteroid discovered in space shortly before causing fireball over South Africa","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A two meter wide meteoroid was tracked in space last Saturday and later that day he created a fireball over South Africa. 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