| 354P/LINEAR | |
|---|---|
 P/2010 A2 is likely the debris left over from a recent collision between two very small asteroids. | |
|
Discoverer |
LINEAR (704) |
|
Date of Discovery |
2010-01-06 |
354P/LINEAR (formerly P/2010 A2 (LINEAR)) is a comentary body that displayed characteristics of both an asteroid and a comet, and thus, was initially given a cometary designation. Because it has the orbit of a main-belt asteroid and showed the tail of a comet, it was listed as a main-belt comet. But within a month of discovery, an analysis of images by the Hubble telescope suggested that its tail was generated by dust and gravel resulting from a recent head-on collision between asteroids rather than from sublimation of cometary ice. This was the first time a small-body collision had been observed; since then, minor planet 596 Scheila has also been seen to undergo a collision, in late 2010. The position of the nucleus was remarkable for being offset from the axis of the tail and outside the dust halo, a situation never before seen in a comet. The tail is created by millimeter-sized particles being pushed back by solar radiation pressure.