Main-Belt Comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS)
Henry H. Hsieh, Heather M. Kaluna, Bojan Novakovic, Bin Yang, Nader, Haghighipour, Marco Micheli, Larry Denneau, Alan Fitzsimmons, Robert Jedicke,, Jan Kleyna, Peter Veres, Richard J. Wainscoat, Megan Ansdell, Garrett T., Elliott, Jacqueline V. Keane, Karen J. Meech

TL;DR
This study characterizes main-belt comet P/2012 T1 through extensive observations and simulations, revealing its brightness variation, low gas emission, and stable orbit linked to the Lixiaohua asteroid family.
Contribution
It provides the first detailed observational and dynamical analysis of P/2012 T1, including brightness evolution, spectroscopic limits, and orbital stability, establishing its nature as a main-belt comet.
Findings
Brightness approximately doubles then decreases by 60%
No evidence of hydrated minerals or CN emission
Dynamically stable for over 100 million years
Abstract
We present initial results from observations and numerical analyses aimed at characterizing main-belt comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS). Optical monitoring observations were made between October 2012 and February 2013 using the University of Hawaii 2.2 m telescope, the Keck I telescope, the Baade and Clay Magellan telescopes, Faulkes Telescope South, the Perkins Telescope at Lowell Observatory, and the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope. The object's intrinsic brightness approximately doubles from the time of its discovery in early October until mid-November and then decreases by ~60% between late December and early February, similar to photometric behavior exhibited by several other main-belt comets and unlike that exhibited by disrupted asteroid (596) Scheila. We also used Keck to conduct spectroscopic searches for CN emission as well as absorption at 0.7 microns that could…
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