2019/04/23 by Colin Orion Chandler, Chandler, Colin Orion, Jay K. Kueny +9
Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Planetary Science and Exploration
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1904.10530
openalex publication_date 2019/04/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present archival observations demonstrating that main belt asteroid (6478) Gault has an extensive history of comet-like activity. Outbursts have taken place during multiple epochs since 2013 and at distances extending as far as 2.68 au, nearly aphelion. (6478) Gault is a member of the predominately S-type (i.e., volatile-poor) Phocaea family; no other main belt object of this type has ever shown more than a single activity outburst. Furthermore, our data suggest that this is the longest duration of activity caused by a body spinning near the rotational breakup barrier. If activity is indeed unrelated to volatiles, as appears to be the case, (6478) Gault represents a new class of object, perpetually active due to rotational spin-up.