Asteroid, Comet…or Something Else? Mysterious Activity on “Oddball” Space Object Raises New Questions

Scitech Daily ^ | January 07, 2025 | University of Central Florida

[Red Badger]

Ping!..............

[GaltAdonis]

“https://images.nightcafe.studio/jobs/izlvGjbFrz3stP0bKpRi/izlvGjbFrz3stP0bKpRi—1—cj16y.jpg?tr=w-1600,c-at_max”

[texas booster]

List Of Transneptunian Objects at the Minor Planet Center

Wow, didn't know that such a collection even existed.

Way to go to the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

[Red Badger]

That’s a lot of rocks!......................

[FroggyTheGremlim]

Prediction: someday we’ll discover primordial RNA components on these ancient objects.

[Red Badger]

[Magnum44]

[Bratch]

[Repeal The 17th]

In Act 1 Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet,
Hamlet says to his friend:

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

[KrisKrinkle]

“…its coma—the diffuse cloud of dust and gas surrounding the object.”

So, its atmosphere.

“,,,back in time, which is a period of time we can’t really observe anymore,”

Astute observation.

“…these objects have largely remained unchanged since the Solar System was formed,…”

They know this how? (“...back in time, which is a period of time we can’t really observe anymore). But: “They are undergoing transformation driven by solar heating…”

They’ve “largely remained unchanged since the Solar System was formed” but are just now “undergoing transformation driven by solar heating”?

Trust the Science.

Maybe being snowbound is affecting my attitude.

[PLMerite]

[Chiron: An “Oddball” Among Centaurs]

So, is this “Centaur” a “Unicorn”?

[telescope115]

I didn’t, either. I saved a link to that page for future reference. This Chiron object would be a great target for a space probe.

[larrytown]

I’m curious how these can be ‘unchagned’, yet are off-gassing and have comas.

Is there a presumption that they are regathering that offgassed material, or how is it being replenished?

Missing piece of the equation here.

[SunkenCiv]

Selections from the keywords, sorted:

• Planet Nine: Is the search for this elusive world nearly over? [09/01/2024]
• SOMETHING IS AFFECTING GRAVITY IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, AND ASTRONOMERS SAY IT COULD BE AN UNKNOWN PLANET [04/24/2024]
• Surprising Changes in Neptune's Temperatures Detected by Astronomers [02/17/2024]
• Are We about to Discover a New Planet in Our Solar System? [02/12/2024]
• Is Pluto a Planet? [01/03/2024]
• A dwarf planet beyond Neptune has a mysterious ring that astronomers can't explain [02/09/2023]
• James Webb Space Telescope discovers water ice at ringed asteroid Chariklo 'by remarkable luck' [01/27/2023]
• Strange Ripples Have Been Detected at The Edge of The Solar System [10/10/2022]
• New Webb Image Captures Clearest View of Neptune's Rings in Decades [09/22/2022]
• Cosmic objects with strange orbits discovered beyond Neptune [09/14/2021]
• What if Planet Nine is a baby black hole? [03/17/2021]
• Comet Makes a Pit Stop Near Jupiter's Asteroids [02/25/2021]
• Say goodbye to Earth's mini-moon on February 1 and 2 [01/29/2021]
• A Rare Hybrid of a Comet And an Asteroid Is Showing Off Its Cometary Traits [11/02/2020]
• Cometary Activity Spotted on Distant Centaur [10/29/2020]
• Fake asteroid? NASA expert IDs mystery object as old rocket [10/11/2020]
• Astronomers discover possible 60s-era Moon rocket booster heading back to Earth [09/25/2020]
• Unknown space object approaching Earth's orbit could be a new 'mini-moon' or part of a long-lost rocket [09/24/2020]
• Is 'Planet Nine' actually a grapefruit-sized black hole? Big new telescope could find out [07/12/2020]
• Over a Hundred New Large Objects Found in the Kuiper Belt [03/13/2020]
• Planet Nine could be a primordial black hole, new research suggests [09/30/2019]
• Proof of 'Planet Nine' May Be Sewn into Medieval Tapestries [02/28/2019]
• 12 years after launch, New Horizons probe zeroes in on mysterious Ultima Thule [12/02/2018]
• Newfound Dwarf Planet 'The Goblin' May Lead to Mysterious Planet Nine [10/02/2018]
• No Need for Planet Nine? Small Objects' Gravity Could Explain Weird Orbits [06/05/2018]
• A star disturbed the comets of the solar system 70,000 years ago [03/20/2018]
• Space Weird Orbits Suggest Solar System May Harbor Another Hidden Planet [06/24/2017]
• New clues in search for Planet Nine [07/05/2016]
• Centaurs Keep Their Rings From Greedy Gas Giants [06/26/2016]
• Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Pluto at Night [06/09/2016]
• Stolen World: 'Planet 9' Likely Came from Another Star [06/02/2016]
• Planet Nine's profile fleshed out [04/09/2016]
• Newly discovered planet could destroy Earth any day now [04/06/2016]
• Mysterious planet wiped out life on Earth once and could do it again THIS MONTH [04/06/2016]
• Researcher links mass extinctions to 'Planet X' [04/02/2016]
• Scientists just found more evidence that Planet Nine exists in our Solar System [03/29/2016]
• Search Narrows For Planet Nine [02/25/2016]
• Don't Blame 'Planet Nine' for Earth's Mass Extinctions [01/26/2016]
• Researchers find evidence of a real ninth planet [01/20/2016]
• There's a ninth planet in our solar system - we just can't see it yet, study says [01/20/2016]
• Ninth Planet May Exist in Solar System Beyond Pluto, New Evidence Suggests [01/20/2016]
• Earth-Smashing Space Rocks Undercounted [12/23/2015]
• Scientists may have found Planet X, the mysterious presence that has eluded astronomers [12/12/2015]
• The Chilling Regularity of Mass Extinctions [11/03/2015]
• 10 Years of Haumea [09/16/2015]
• Is there a Planet X, a 'massive perturber,' hidden beyond Pluto? [09/05/2015]
• What is the Oort Cloud? [08/10/2015]
• Pluto a Planet Again? It May Happen This Year [06/08/2015]
• New Examination of Trans-Neptunian Objects Suggests Two Planets Lurk in Outer Solar System [01/16/2015]
• Astronomers are Predicting at Least Two More Large Planets in the Solar System [01/15/2015]
• The Dark Energy Survey Begins to Reveal Previously Unknown Trans-Neptunian Objects [01/07/2015]
• The Whichness of the Why -- Another asteroid has been detected sporting a long tail. [11/22/2014]
• Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Two Rings for Asteroid Chariklo [04/09/2014]
• Asteroid Found with Rings! First-of-Its-Kind Discovery Stuns Astronomers [03/26/2014]
• Strange Object Boosts Kuiper Belt Mystery [ 2002 UX25 ] [12/25/2013]
• Dwarf planet Eris may reveal quantum gravity [01/25/2013]
• When straying Jupiter went on the pull [02/15/2012]
• Giant planet ejected from the solar system [11/11/2011]
• Three New "Plutos"? Possible Dwarf Planets Found [08/16/2011]
• 'Jupiter swallowed planet 10 times the size of Earth' [08/13/2010]
• Search on for Death Star that throws out deadly comets.. [03/19/2010]
• On the Fringe: Astronomers look to the Kuiper belt for clues to the solar system's history [01/14/2010]
• A ghost of Christmas past [ Kuiper Belt Object 2009 YE7 discovered ] [01/03/2010]
• LUNAR IMPACT PLUME [LCROSS team: Moon collision a "smashing success" after all] [10/19/2009]
• Asteroid Belt Loaded with Former Comets [07/16/2009]
• The Curious Case of Missing Asteroids [03/03/2009]
• Were Mercury and Mars separated at birth? [01/19/2009]
• Are Jupiters Hard to Come By? [08/12/2008]
• The Chaotic Genesis of Planets [ FREE PREVIEW ] [05/01/2008]
• Jupiter Increases Risk Of Comet Strike On Earth [08/24/2007]
• Gas Giants Jump Into Planet Formation Early [06/27/2007]
• NRO Spacecraft In Wrong Orbit [06/16/2007]
• New insights into composition of giant planets [10/18/2006]
• Largest known dwarf planet named after Greek goddess of chaos [HAIL ERIS!] [09/13/2006]
• Planet 10? Tiny 'Plutino' Almost Qualifies [ 2000 EB173 October 2000 ] [08/18/2006]
• X-Planets ( extrasolar planets, and the various planets X ) [06/09/2006]
• Death Spiral: Why Theorists Can't Make Solar Systems [03/29/2006]
• NASA Finds Another Solar System Mystery based on Stardust mission [03/13/2006]
• Stellar encounters as the origin of distant Solar System objects in highly eccentric orbits [12/02/2004]
• If this is not 'Planet X', what is it? (biggest solar system body found in more than 70 years) [10/07/2002]

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Red Badger.

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[DannyTN]

That’s Superyeti.

He’s like Superman only yeti.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Oddball?

[PIF]

carbon dioxide and methane gases in its coma
—
Obvious signs of life.

[BenLurkin]

Dead starship slowly venting the last of its gases.