Bibcode
Licandro, J.; Campins, Humberto
Bibliographical reference
Icy Bodies of the Solar System, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, IAU Symposium, Volume 263, p. 215-217
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2010
Citations
5
Refereed citations
4
Description
We present the visible spectrum of asteroid-comet transition object
133P/Elst-Pizarro (7968), the first member of the new population of
objects called Main Belt Comets (Hsieh & Jewitt 2006). The spectrum
was obtained with the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope at the
“Roque de los Muchachos” observatory. The orbital elements
of 133P place it within the Themis collisional family, but the observed
cometary activity during it last 3 perihelion passages also suggest a
possible origin in the trans-Neptunian belt or the Oort Cloud, the known
sources of comets. We found a clear similarity between our spectrum of
133P and those of other members of the Themis family such as 62 Erato,
and a strong contrast with those of cometary nuclei, such as
162P/Siding-Spring. This spectral comparison leads us to conclude that
133P is unlikely to have a cometary origin. This conclusion is
strengthened by spectral similarities with activated near-Earth asteroid
3200 Phaethon, and suggest that there are activated asteroids in the
near-Earth asteroid and main belt populations with similar surface
properties.