Pre-Discovery Observations of Disrupting Asteroid P/2010 A2

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the pre-discovery observations of asteroid P/2010 A2, the first observed case of a recently disrupted asteroid, to understand its visibility and implications for future discoveries of similar objects.

Contribution

It provides the first prediscovery observations and limits on early brightness, highlighting the potential abundance of such objects and the importance of all-sky surveys.

Findings

Prediscovery observations from LINEAR telescope.

Limits on early brightness from SOHO and STEREO images.

Disrupted asteroids like P/2010 A2 are likely common.

Abstract

Solar system object P/2010 A2 is the first-noticed example of the aftermath of a recently disrupted asteroid, probably resulting from a collision. Nearly a year elapsed between its inferred initiation in early 2009 and its eventual detection in early 2010. Here, we use new observations to assess the factors underlying the visibility, especially to understand the delayed discovery. We present prediscovery observations from the LINEAR telescope and set limits to the early-time brightness from SOHO and STEREO satellite coronagraphic images. Consideration of the circumstances of discovery of P/2010 A2 suggests that similar objects must be common, and that future all-sky surveys will reveal them in large numbers.