J/A+A/505/1297 Hawaii Trails Project (Hsieh, 2009)
The Hawaii Trails Project: Comet-Hunting in the Main Asteroid Belt.
Hsieh H.H.
<Astron. Astrophys. 505, 1297 (2009)>
=2009A&A...505.1297H 2009A&A...505.1297H
ADC_Keywords: Surveys ; Minor planets
Keywords: Comets: general - comets: individual: 133P/Elst-Pizarro -
comets: individual: 176P/LINEAR - minor planets, asteroids -
solar system: general
Abstract:
The mysterious solar system object 133P/(7968) Elst-Pizarro is
dynamically asteroidal, yet displays recurrent comet-like dust
emission. Two scenarios were hypothesized to explain this unusual
behavior: (1) 133P is a classical comet from the outer solar system
that has evolved onto a main-belt orbit, or (2) 133P is a dynamically
ordinary main-belt asteroid on which subsurface ice has recently been
exposed. If (1) is correct, the expected rarity of a dynamical
transition onto an asteroidal orbit implies that 133P could be alone
in the main belt. In contrast, if (2) is correct, other icy main-belt
objects should exist and could also exhibit cometary activity.
Believing 133P to be a dynamically ordinary, yet icy main-belt
asteroid, I set out to test the primary prediction of the hypothesis:
that 133P-like objects should be common and could be found by an
appropriately designed observational survey.
Description:
This table details the dynamical and physical properties of the
objects observed as part of the Hawaii Trail Project, as well as the
circumstances of each object's observation.
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
table3.dat 153 657 Properties of objects imaged for the
Hawaii Trail Project (HTP)
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See also:
B/astorb : Orbits of Minor Planets (Bowell+ 2009)
B/comets : Database of the orbital elements of comets (Rocher, 2007)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table3.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 11 A11 --- ObjID Object ID code (YYYYMMDD_NN)
13- 18 I6 --- AstNum ? Numerical asteroid designation (if any)
20- 42 A23 --- AstName Asteroid name or provisional designation
44 I1 --- Nobs Number of separate observations of object
46- 50 A5 --- Type Target type (1)
52 A1 --- T [PO] Orbital element type (2)
54- 58 F5.3 AU a Semimajor axis length (3)
60- 64 F5.3 --- e Eccentricity (3)
66- 69 F4.2 deg i Inclination (3)
71- 74 F4.2 --- TISS Tisserand parameter (4)
76- 79 F4.1 --- VMAG Absolute magnitude (V-band)
81- 90 A10 "YYYY/MM/DD" UTDate Date of observation
92- 96 A5 --- Tel Telescope used (5)
98-101 F4.2 AU Hdist Heliocentric distance of object (6)
103-106 F4.2 AU Gdist Geocentric distance of object (6)
108-111 F4.1 deg phSun Solar phase angle (6)
113-116 F4.1 deg OrbAng Orbit plane angle (6)
118-122 F5.1 deg TrueAnom True anomaly (6)
124-127 F4.1 mag Rmag Measured apparent magnitude (R-band)
129-131 F3.1 mag e_Rmag Magnitude uncertainty (7)
133-136 I4 s ExpTime Total effective exposure time
138-141 I4 --- SNR Measured signal-to-noise ratio
143-146 F4.1 mag/arcsec2 DetLim Coma surface brightness detection limit
148-153 F6.4 10+6km-2 Cd/Cn Ratio limit of dust to nucleus (8)
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Note (1): Target type as follows:
Kari = Karin cluster asteroid
Koro = Koronis family asteroid
Low-i = Low-inclination asteroid
Them = Themis family asteroid
Veri = Veritas family asteroid
Note (2): Orbital element type as follows:
P = Proper elements from Asteroids - Dynamic Site (AstDyS)
(Knezevic & Milani, 2003A&A...403.1165K 2003A&A...403.1165K;
http://hamilton.dm.unipi.it/astdys/)
O = Osculating elements from JPL's Solar System Dynamics Group's
Small-Body Database (http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi)
Note (3): Computed with respect to Jupiter using tabulated orbital elements
Note (4): From JPL's Solar System Dynamics Group's Small-Body Database
(http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi)
Note (5): Telescope codes as follows:
CT1m = Cerro Tololo 1.0 meter telescope (Cerro Tololo, Chile)
Gemn = Gemini North 8 meter telescope (Mauna Kea, Hawaii)
Keck = Keck I 10 meter telescope (Mauna Kea, Hawaii)
Lulin = Lulin 1 meter telescope (Lulin Mountain, Taiwan)
SOAR = Southern Astrophysical Research 4.1 meter telescope
(Cerro Pachon, Chile)
Subr = Subaru 8 meter telescope (Mauna Kea, Hawaii)
UH2.2 = University of Hawaii 2.2 meter telescope (Mauna Kea, Hawaii)
Note (6): From JPL's Solar System Dynamics Group's Horizons online
ephemeris generator (http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi)
Note (7): Approximate uncertainty in R-band magnitude of asteroid measured
from observations, estimated to be 0.1mag if observed during clear
conditions or ∼0.5mag if observed with cirrus present
Note (8): Fractional scattering surface area of dust with respect to the
nucleus cross-section
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Acknowledgements:
Henry Hsieh, h.hsieh(at)qub.ac.uk
(End) Henry Hsieh [Queen's Univ., Belfast], Patricia Vannier [CDS] 06-Aug-2009