Report an accessibility problem
Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies

Newly Observed Main Belt Comet Has 6 Tails!

A new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal provides details on a unique asteroid with multiple comet-like tails!  While comets originate in the Kuiper Belt or Oort cloud, however, this object orbits at the inner edge of the asteroid belt. This extraordinary space object, dubbed P/2013 P5, was observed using the Hubble Space Telescope and is the only one of its kind to be identified so far. Researchers believe the object is an inner-belt asteroid that, due to rotational instability, is leaving multiple dust trails as it breaks up.

See photos and read about this amazing comet here and here!