{"id":6780,"date":"2014-03-06T17:11:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-06T17:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6780"},"modified":"2014-03-06T17:11:51","modified_gmt":"2014-03-06T17:11:51","slug":"hubble-sees-asteroid-breaking-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6780","title":{"rendered":"Hubble sees asteroid breaking up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s an announcement from the ESA Hubble Telescope group:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/images\/heic1405a\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"6781\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=6781\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405a.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1280,337\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;This series of images shows the asteroid P\/2013 R3 breaking apart, as viewed by the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in 2013. This is the first time that such a body has been seen to undergo this kind of break-up. The Hubble observations showed that there are ten distinct objects, each with comet-like dust tails, embedded within the asteroid&#039;s dusty envelope. The four largest rocky fragments are up to 200 metres in radius, about twice the length of a football pitch. The date increases from left to right, with frames from 29 October 2013, 15 November 2013, 13 December 2013, and 14 January 2014 respectively, showing how the clumps of debris material move around. The 14 January 2014 frame was not included in the science paper and is additional data.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"heic1405a\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;This series of images shows the asteroid P\/2013 R3 breaking apart, as viewed by the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in 2013. This is the first time that such a body has been seen to undergo this kind of break-up. The Hubble observations showed that there are ten distinct objects, each with comet-like dust tails, embedded within the asteroid&amp;#8217;s dusty envelope. The four largest rocky fragments are up to 200 metres in radius, about twice the length of a football pitch. The date increases from left to right, with frames from 29 October 2013, 15 November 2013, 13 December 2013, and 14 January 2014 respectively, showing how the clumps of debris material move around. The 14 January 2014 frame was not included in the science paper and is additional data.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405a-1024x269.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-6781\" alt=\"heic1405a\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405a-1024x269.jpg\" width=\"520\" height=\"136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405a-1024x269.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405a-300x78.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405a.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/news\/heic1405\/\" target=\"_d\">Hubble witnesses an asteroid mysteriously disintegrating\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the never-before-seen break-up of an asteroid, which has fragmented into as many as ten smaller pieces. Although fragile comet nuclei have been seen to fall apart as they approach the Sun, nothing like the breakup of this asteroid, P\/2013 R3, has ever been observed before in the asteroid belt.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;This is a rock. Seeing it fall apart before our eyes is pretty amazing,&#8221;<\/em>\u00a0said David Jewitt of UCLA, USA, who led the astronomical forensics investigation.<\/p>\n<div id=\"flashplayer\">Loading player&#8230;<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/static\/djangoplicity\/shadowbox3\/libraries\/mediaplayer5\/jwplayer.js\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\nvar sdfile = 'http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/static\/archives\/videos\/medium_flash\/heic1405a.flv';var imagefile = 'http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/static\/archives\/videos\/videoframe\/heic1405a.jpg';var flashsrc = 'http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/static\/djangoplicity\/shadowbox3\/libraries\/mediaplayer5\/player.swf';var sharelink = 'http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/videos\/heic1405a\/';var sharecode = '';var gaid = 'UA-2368492-6';var ipadfile = 'http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/static\/archives\/videos\/medium_podcast\/heic1405a.m4v';var mobilefile = 'http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/static\/archives\/videos\/medium_podcast\/heic1405a.m4v';var hdfile = 'http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/static\/archives\/videos\/hd_and_apple\/heic1405a.m4v';;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/static\/djangoplicity\/js\/videoembed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The crumbling asteroid, designated P\/2013 R3, was first noticed as an unusual, fuzzy-looking object on 15 September 2013 by the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lpl.arizona.edu\/css\/\">Catalina<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/pan-starrs.ifa.hawaii.edu\/public\/\">Pan-STARRS<\/a>\u00a0sky surveys. Follow-up observations on 1 October with the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.keckobservatory.org\/\">Keck Telescope<\/a>\u00a0on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, revealed three co-moving bodies embedded in a dusty envelope that is nearly the diameter of Earth.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Keck showed us that this thing was worth looking at with Hubble,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Jewitt said. With its superior resolution, the space-based Hubble observations soon showed that there were really ten distinct objects, each with comet-like dust tails. The four largest rocky fragments are up to 200 metres in radius, about twice the length of a football pitch.<\/p>\n<p>The Hubble data showed that the fragments are drifting away from each other at a leisurely 1.5 kilometres per hour \u2014 slower than the speed of a strolling human. The asteroid began coming apart early last year, but the latest images show that pieces continue to emerge.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;This is a really bizarre thing to observe \u2014 we&#8217;ve never seen anything like it before,\u201d<\/em>says co-author Jessica Agarwal of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany.\u00a0<em>&#8220;The break-up could have many different causes, but the Hubble observations are detailed enough that we can actually pinpoint the process responsible.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The ongoing discovery of more fragments makes it unlikely that the asteroid is disintegrating due to a collision with another asteroid, which would be instantaneous and violent in comparison to what has been observed. Some of the debris from such a high-velocity smash-up would also be expected to travel much faster than has been observed.<\/p>\n<p>It is also unlikely that the asteroid is breaking apart due to the pressure of interior ices warming and vaporising. The object is too cold for ices to significantly sublimate, and it has presumably maintained its nearly 480-million-kilometre distance from the Sun for much of the age of the Solar System.<\/p>\n<p>This leaves a scenario in which the asteroid is disintegrating due to a subtle effect of sunlight that causes the rotation rate to slowly increase over time. Eventually, its component pieces gently pull apart due to centrifugal force. The possibility of disruption by this phenomenon \u2014 known as the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Yarkovsky%E2%80%93O%27Keefe%E2%80%93Radzievskii%E2%80%93Paddack_effect\">YORP effect<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/news\/heic1405\/#1\">[1]<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 has been discussed by scientists for several years but, so far, never reliably observed (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/news\/eso1405\/\">eso1405<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.spacetelescope.org\/images\/heic1405g\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"6782\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=6782\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405g.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1280,553\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;This illustration shows one possible explanation for the disintegration of asteroid P\/2013 R3. It is likely that over the past 4.5 billion years the asteroid was fractured by collisions with other asteroids. The effects of sunlight will have caused the asteroid to slowly increase its rotation rate until the loosely bound fragments drifted apart due to centrifugal forces. Dust drifting off the pieces makes the comet-looking tails. This process may be common for small bodies in the asteroid belt.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"heic1405g\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;This illustration shows one possible explanation for the disintegration of asteroid P\/2013 R3. It is likely that over the past 4.5 billion years the asteroid was fractured by collisions with other asteroids. The effects of sunlight will have caused the asteroid to slowly increase its rotation rate until the loosely bound fragments drifted apart due to centrifugal forces. Dust drifting off the pieces makes the comet-looking tails. This process may be common for small bodies in the asteroid belt.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405g-1024x442.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-6782\" alt=\"heic1405g\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405g-1024x442.jpg\" width=\"520\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405g-1024x442.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405g-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heic1405g.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For break-up to occur, P\/2013 R3 must have a weak, fractured interior, probably the result of numerous ancient and non-destructive collisions with other asteroids. Most small asteroids are thought to have been severely damaged in this way, giving them a &#8220;rubble pile\u201d internal structure. P\/2013 R3 itself is probably the product of collisional shattering of a bigger body some time in the last billion years.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;This is the latest in a line of weird asteroid discoveries, including the active asteroid P\/2013 P5, which we found to be spouting six tails,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0says Agarwal.\u00a0<em>&#8220;This indicates that the Sun may play a large role in disintegrating these small Solar System bodies, by putting pressure on them via sunlight.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>P\/2013 R3&#8217;s remnant debris, weighing in at 200 000 tonnes, will provide a rich source of meteoroids in the future. Most will eventually plunge into the Sun, but a small fraction of the debris may one day blaze across our sky as meteors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s an announcement from the ESA Hubble Telescope group: Hubble witnesses an asteroid mysteriously disintegrating\u00a0 The NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the never-before-seen break-up of an asteroid, which has fragmented into as many as ten smaller pieces. Although fragile comet nuclei have been seen to fall apart as they approach the Sun, nothing like &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6780\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Hubble sees asteroid breaking up<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[75,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asteroids","category-astronomy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-1Lm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5216,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5216","url_meta":{"origin":6780,"position":0},"title":"Hubble sees multiple comet-like tails on an object in asteroid belt","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"An oddball object on an asteroid-like orbit has multiple comet-like tails: When is a comet not a comet?\u00a0 Astronomers using the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have observed a unique and baffling object in the asteroid belt that looks like a rotating lawn sprinkler or badminton shuttlecock. While this object is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asteroids &amp; Comets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids &amp; Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hubble views extraordinary multi-tailed asteroid P\/2013 P5","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.spacetelescope.org\/static\/archives\/images\/medium\/heic1320a.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14947,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14947","url_meta":{"origin":6780,"position":1},"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 &quot;Asteroids &amp; Comets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids &amp; 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":19854,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=19854","url_meta":{"origin":6780,"position":2},"title":"Space sciences roundup &#8211; Oct.4.2019","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images from space-related science news items (find previous roundups here): Astronomy ** Enigmatic radio burst illuminates a galaxy\u2019s tranquil \u200bhalo | ESO Astronomers using ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope have for the first time observed that a fast radio burst passed through a galactic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":" Saturn as seen by Hubble Space Telescope\u2019s Wide Field Camera","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heic1917a1-500x318.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16294,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16294","url_meta":{"origin":6780,"position":3},"title":"Hubble: Interstellar visitor &#8216;Oumuamua leaving faster than expected","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The interstellar object that passed through the solar system continues to provide surprises: Hubble sees `Oumuamua getting a boost\u00a0 New results indicate interstellar nomad is a comet\u00a0 https:\/\/youtu.be\/qGGLV31jDHI `Oumuamua, the first interstellar object discovered in the Solar System, is moving away from the Sun faster than expected. This anomalous behaviour\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asteroids &amp; Comets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids &amp; Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/heic1813b1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14650,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14650","url_meta":{"origin":6780,"position":4},"title":"Video: Hubble captures Phobos in motion around Mars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Hubble Space Telescope makes a cool time-lapse video of the Martian moon Phobos circling the Red Planet: NASA\u2019s Hubble Sees Martian Moon Orbiting the Red Planet https:\/\/youtu.be\/J7Cumuf_5CY When the Hubble Space Telescope observed Mars near opposition in May, 2016, a sneaky companion photobombed the picture. Phobos, the Greek personification\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/stscihp1729af3000x24001.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12649,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12649","url_meta":{"origin":6780,"position":5},"title":"Hubble takes a great close-up picture of Mars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Orbiters around Mars can take very detailed images of the surface with far higher resolution than\u00a0the\u00a0NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. However, Hubble is able to see a whole hemisphere at once. Below\u00a0is a Hubble image of Mars taken this month when the orbits of the two planets bring them the closest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"This image shows our neighbouring planet Mars, as it was observed shortly before opposition in 2016 by the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Some prominent features of the planet are clearly visible: the ancient and inactive shield volcano Syrtis Major; the bright and oval Hellas Planitia basin; the heavily eroded Arabia Terra in the centre of the image; the dark features of Sinus Sabaeous and Sinus Meridiani along the equator; and the small southern polar cap.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/1609a1-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6780"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6783,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780\/revisions\/6783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}