The Pinpoint Comets: 133P/Elst-Pizarro, 249P/LINEAR, 331P/Gibbs, 62412 and 6478 Gault

TL;DR

This paper introduces the Pinpoint Comet Group, a new class of small, asteroid-like objects with cometary tails, analyzing their physical properties, origins, and evolutionary behaviors based on observational data.

Contribution

It identifies and characterizes a new class of objects, the Pinpoint Comets, with detailed analysis of their physical and orbital properties, expanding understanding of active asteroids.

Findings

Five new Pinpoint Comets identified in 2019.

Members exhibit high densities, suggesting specific origins.

Objects show diverse orbital and physical characteristics.

Abstract

From two Active Asteroid (AA) known in 1979 we have advanced to 37 members at the beginning of 2019. More surprisingly, in the first three months of 2019 five new members were added to the list, one of them, 6478 Gault, with a curious, out of the ordinary tail. This prompted a visual search for similar objects in images depositories. We have identified five cometary objects that have the same morphological appearance: A thin long tail coming out of a star-like nucleus with no gas. The members of this new class (Pinpoint Comet Group, PCG) are, 133P/Elst-Pizarro, 249P/LINEAR, 331P/Gibbs, 62412 and 6478 Gault. We look for differences and similarities among them. Four of them belong to the main belt and one to the Jupiter Family of comets. One of them has left the group but will return soon. Two of them are double. All exhibit densities well above the Jupiter Family of comets values. This tells us something about their origin and evolution. In this work we study the secular and rotational light curves of these objects and their phase and SLC plots. We will investigate the meaning of these characteristics in terms of their physical evolution.