The Hubble Space Telescope photographed six finger-like dust tails in September 2013 of active asteroid P/2013 P5. One interpretation for the structure is that the asteroid's rotation rate has been increased to the point where dust is falling off the surface along the equator and escaping into space. The pressure of sunlight then sweeps the dust into long tails.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI/AURA)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | P/2013 P5 |
| Object Description | Active Asteroid |
| Distance | At the time of the Hubble observations in September 2013, P/2013 P5 was 1.1 astronomical units (112 million miles) from Earth and 2.1 astronomical units (195 million miles) from the Sun. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The image was created from Hubble data from proposal : D. Jewitt (University of California, Los Angeles), J. Agarwal (Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research), H. Weaver (JHU/APL), M. Mutchler (STScI), and S. Larson (University of Arizona). |
| Instrument | HST>WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | September 10, 2013, and September 23, 2013 |
| Filters | F350LP (long pass) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image was originally black and white and recorded only overall brightness. These brightness values were translated into a range of bluish hues. Such color "maps" can be useful in helping to distinguish subtly varying brightness in an image. |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
