Posted on 10/29/2020 5:34:55 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Centaurs are minor planets thought to have originated in the outer region of our Solar System known as the Kuiper Belt.
Active centaurs enigmatically display prominent comet-like features such as comae or tails even though they orbit in the gas giant region where it is too cold for water to readily sublimate.
Only 18 active centaurs have been identified since 1927 and, consequently, the underlying activity mechanisms are still poorly understood.
2014 OG392 orbits between 10 and 15 AU (astronomical units) where its equilibrium temperature would be around minus 213 degrees Celsius (minus 351 degrees Fahrenheit).
Chandler and colleagues initially found suspected cometary activity in the archival images of the object from the Dark Energy Camera at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.
They then carried out a follow-up observing campaign with the DECam, the Las Campanas Observatory 6.5-m Walter Baade Telescope, and the 4.3-m Lowell Discovery Telescope.
(Excerpt) Read more at sci-news.com ...
Bad eyes. Bad brain!
I read that at first glance as a community activist spotted on a distant centaur.
Wait. What?
I want one!!
I thought it said cemetery activity.
I was waiting for Roseanne Roseanadana to give a commentary about planets and their tall tails.
I could see this post getting pulled. Just the way things are going so far. Probably wrong, what the heck do I know?
High-Inclination Centaur Asteroids Came from Interstellar Space: Study
http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/centaurs-interstellar-space-08369.html
“At least 17 high-inclination Centaurs and two trans-Neptunian objects were captured by the Solar System from the interstellar medium, according to a new study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
“Due to giant planets’ perturbations, these objects have transient orbits with typical lifetimes of a few million years. If a Centaur orbit is integrated forward or backward in time, it will invariably either hit the Sun, the planets, or be ejected from the Solar System.
“Centaurs appear to be intermediate between asteroids and comets, as any Centaur coming close enough to the Sun is expected to show cometary activity.”
I can tell you it’s not what I expected.
Well.Ben. I am glad they were able to re-designate the Centaur as a Comet.
I do note that what happened here was not so much a slide, but more like a shove over the cliff by a really hot ?? double-breasted quadarmian pin-up??
(This was a science thread once.)
It IS All Hallows Eve eve after all...
I assumed it was Dems registering voters.
Not as exciting if it had been titled: “Centaur Activity Spotted On Distant Comet...”
They might have radioactive elements that warm them just enough to sublimate the violatile gases. Uranium and Thorium are why the Earth still has a molten core.
>If a Centaur orbit is integrated forward or backward in time, it will invariably either hit the Sun, the planets, or be ejected from the Solar System.
Schrodinger’s comet ?
If I integrated time forward it will either be raining or snowing unless it isn’t.
Your eyes, the first thing that crossed my mind was ‘Cemetery’ Activity, but I guess yours and mine amounts to the same thing ; )
I'm surprised, and a little disappointed in everyone here, that there's no Uranus jokes yet. I don't even know you anymore.
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