Astronomers have spotted an object that seems to have six comet tails.
Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the astronomers have identified a "weird and freakish object" in the asteroid belt that looks very similar to a rotating lawn sprinkler. Astronomers at the Hubble Space Telescope photographed the object on September 10 for the first time and then again after two weeks.
Hubble researchers say that this is the first instance when they have had a close look at an object that is in the asteroid belt but looks like a comet. Astronomers suggest that the object, dubbed P/2013 P5, has around six dust tails that seem to be forming sequentially. Researchers describe the object resembles a "bicycle wheel" with its spokes on one side.
"We were literally dumbfounded when we saw it," said David Jewitt, the lead investigator of the study and an astronomer at the University of California at Los Angeles. "Even more amazing, its tail structures change dramatically in just 13 days as it belches out dust. That also caught us by surprise. It's hard to believe we're looking at an asteroid."
Jewiit also adds that the asteroid may have possibly spun up if the pressure of sunlight exerted a torque on the body. The asteroid's weak gravity may not be able to hold it together if the spin rate increases. The orbit of the asteroid may make it a member of the Flora asteroid family, which means it's a part of an asteroid collision that would have occurred around 200 million years ago.
"In astronomy, where you find one, you eventually find a whole bunch more," said Jewitt. "This is just an amazing object to us, and almost certainly the first of many more to come."
Jessica Agarwal a team member of the study also said that the tails of the object may have been formed by a series of impulsive dust-ejection events.
Astronomers will continue observing the object to get more details.
