Dust productivity and impact collision of the asteroid (596) Scheila

TL;DR

This study analyzes the dust ejection and impact collision of asteroid (596) Scheila during its 2010 outburst, estimating its size, dust mass ejected, and potential impact triggers based on observational data.

Contribution

It provides new estimates of Scheila's size and dust ejection mass, and discusses impact mechanisms and potential cometary stream interactions.

Findings

Estimated asteroid radius ~51 km.

Ejected dust mass between 2.5×10^7 and 3.4×10^7 kg.

Impact mechanism possibly triggered activity.

Abstract

Photometric observations of asteroid (596) Scheila were obtained during and after its 2010 outburst. The estimated radius of the body (spherical approximation of the asteroidal body) was 51.2 km and 50.67 km for different methods. The ejected dust mass from the asteroid ranged from 2.5*10e7 to 3.4*10^7 kg for different methods. An impact mechanism for triggering Scheila's activity is discussed. A few days before the impact, Scheila passed through the corridors of two potential cometary streams.