Disintegration of Active Asteroid P/2016 G1 (PANSTARRS)

Abstract

We report on the catastrophic disintegration of P/2016 G1 (PANSTARRS), an active asteroid, in April 2016. Deep images over three months show that object is constituted by a central concentration of fragments surrounded by an elongated coma, and presents previously unreported sharp arc-like and a narrow linear features. The morphology and evolution of these characteristics independently point toward a brief event on 2016 March 6. The arc and the linear feature can be reproduced by large particles on a ring, moving at ~2.5 m/s. The expansion of the ring defines a cone with a ~40deg half-opening. We propose that G1 was hit by a small object which caused its (partial or total) disruption, and that the ring corresponds to large fragments ejected during the final stages of the crater formation.}

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• The Pan-STARRS1 Photometric System
• SSOS: A Moving Object Image Search Tool for Asteroid Precovery
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• Using Mars co-orbitals to estimate the importance of rotation-induced YORP break-up events in Earth co-orbital space