Large Particles in Active Asteroid P/2010 A2

TL;DR

This study re-observed asteroid P/2010 A2, revealing that large particles remain in its debris trail years after the outburst, enabling a more accurate estimate of the debris mass and insights into its physical properties.

Contribution

The paper provides new long-term observations of P/2010 A2's debris, showing large particles persist and refining debris mass estimates compared to previous studies.

Findings

Debris mass is approximately 5x10^8 kg.

Large particles dominate the debris mass.

Events like P/2010 A2 contribute less than 3% to Zodiacal dust.

Abstract

Previously unknown asteroid P/2010 A2 rose to prominence in 2010 by forming a transient, comet-like tail consisting of ejected dust. The observed dust production was interpreted as either the result of a hypervelocity impact with a smaller body or of a rotational disruption. We have re-observed this object, finding that large particles remain a full orbital period after the initial outburst. In the intervening years, particles smaller than ~3 mm in radius have been dispersed by radiation pressure, leaving only larger particles in the trail. Since the total mass is dominated by the largest particles, the radiation pressure filtering allows us to obtain a more reliable estimate of the debris mass than was previously possible. We find that the mass contained in the debris is ~5x10^8 kg (assumed density 3000 kg m^-3), the ratio of the total debris mass to the nucleus mass is ~0.1 and that events like P/2010 A2 contribute <3% to the Zodiacal dust production rate. Physical properties of the nucleus and debris are also determined.