Astronomers are puzzled as to how this object came to be

Nov 7, 2013 22:16 GMT  ·  By

Scientists from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) announce the discovery of a bizarre asteroid in space, which appears to be spewing up to six different plumes of matter from its interior at the same time. The experts say that they have never witnessed this type of asteroid before.

What is interesting about this space rock is that the jets radiate out of it like comet Tails, resembling the spokes on a wheel. When moving through space, the asteroid resembles a garden sprinkler. Astronomers have designated this object P/2013 P5, NASA said in a statement.

In a paper published in the November 7 online issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters, the UCLA team reveals that the jets form on the surface of the asteroid periodically, and that they have been doing so for the past five months, since regular observations began.

One of the possible explanations the team has put forward for this weird object is that P/2013 P5 is spinning so fast around its axis that matter on the surface is simply thrown out into space. Another hypothesis could be that the object was impacted by a different asteroid recently.

However, the UCLA group is quick to dismiss this idea. The researchers, who were led by expert David Jewitt, say that no dust clouds were seen around the object. Such clouds usually appear after cosmic collisions, and comprise loose debris from the objects that slammed into each other.

“We were literally dumbfounded when we saw it. 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,” Jewitt explains.

The investigators used data from NASA's flagship observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, to collect images of the asteroid at regular intervals. The object was first identified with the Pan-STARSS survey telescope, in Hawaii, on August 27. Hubble was used for a high-definition image on September 10 and then again on September 23.

“In astronomy, where you find one, you eventually find a whole bunch more. This is just an amazing object to us, and almost certainly the first of many more to come,” the UCLA expert says.

Scientists believe that P/2013 P5 may have broken apart from a larger asteroid as recently as 200 million years ago, and say that it may have had a restless existence ever since.