Re-activation of binary main-belt comet 288P
Abstract
We propose to closely follow the expected re-activation of the unusual binary main-belt comet 288P (300163) in the fall of 2021, to identify the active component(s). This is a crucial parameter to understand the formation and evolution of this system which is unique among the known binary asteroids both because of its comet-like activity and because of its wide, eccentric and asynchronous mutual orbit in combination with similarly sized components. We request a total of 8 orbits. Seven orbits, distributed across one month, will serve to measure the brightness increase due to dust as the system re-approaches perihelion in 2021. In addition, we request 1 orbit in 2021 June to probe for a potential orbit instability. It is currently unclear why no other systems with similar orbital properties as 288P are known. There is a strong detection bias against such systems, and the binary nature of 288P was only identified because of its activity. One the other hand, if activity is needed to form such systems, they may indeed be rare. Our proposed observations will shed light on the frequency of similar systems and on the processes behind binary asteroid formation and evolution. Since the re-activation is expected for the 2021 September-October time frame, we request 4 orbits in Cycle 28 and 4 orbits in Cycle 29.
- Publication:
-
HST Proposal
- Pub Date:
- May 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020hst..prop16192A