P/2013 P5, Many UFO'S Explained I See One too!

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — This is one strange asteroid.
The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a six-tailed asteroid in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Scientists say they've never seen anything like it. Incredibly, the comet-like tails change shape as the asteroid sheds dust. The streams have occurred over several months.
A research team led by the University of California, Los Angeles, believes the asteroid, designated P/2013 P5, is rotating so much that its surface is flying apart. It's believed to be a fragment of a larger asteroid damaged in a collision 200 million years ago.
Scientists using the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii spotted the asteroid in August. Hubble picked out all the tails in September.
The discovery is described in this week's issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.


Summary  published by Astrophysical Journal Letters


The main properties of active asteroid P/2013 P5 determined from Hubble Space Tele-
scope observations are summarized as follows:
1. The object shows a central nucleus (absolute magnitude HV 18.6, corresponding to a
mean radius of 0.24 0.04 km or less, with assumed geometric albedo pV = 0.29 0.09)
embedded in a system of six, divergent dust tails. The scattering cross-section of the
dust exceeds that of the nucleus by a factor 13.
2. There is dramatic morphological change in the tails between UT 2013 Sep 10 and 23,
but very little photometric change in the nucleus or near-nucleus dust environments.
3. The position angle of each tail can be characterized by a di erent date of ejection, with
a ve month age span (from UT 2013 April 15 to Sep 04) that indicates continuing
activity at the nucleus.
4. Mass loss through rotational disruption is the most plausible mechanism driving the
mass loss.
Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, with data
obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). Support for program 13475 was
provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is
operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA
contract NAS 5-26555. We thank Alison Vick, Tomas Dahlen, and other members of the
STScI ground system team for their expert help in planning and scheduling these Target of
Opportunity observations

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