astronomy

P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS)

P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) rather than just read about it. In short: P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) was an active main-belt asteroid that disintegrated from 2013 to 2014 due to the centrifugal breakup of its rapidly-rotating nucleus. It was discovered by astronomers of the Catalina and Pan-STARRS sky surveys on 15 September 2013.

Key takeaways

P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) was an active main-belt asteroid that disintegrated from 2013 to 2014 due to the centrifugal breakup of its rapidly-rotating nucleus. It was discovered by astronomers of the Catalina and Pan-STARRS sky surveys on 15 September 2013. The disintegration of this asteroid ejected numerous fragments and dusty debris into space, which temporarily gave it a diffuse, comet-like appearance with a dust tail blown back by solar radiation pressure. Observations by ground-based telescopes in October 2013 revealed that P/2013 R3 had broken up into four major components, with later Hubble Space Telescope observations showing that these components have further broken up into at least thirteen smaller fragments ranging 100–400 meters (330–1,310 ft) in diameter. P/2013 R3 was never seen again after February 2014. P/2013 R3 was originally an 800-meter (2,600 ft)-diameter carbonaceous C-type asteroid that gradually spun up due to continuous torquing by sunlight reflecting off its irregular surface, a phenomenon known as the YORP effect. The asteroid likely reached a rotation period shorter than 2 hours before it began breaking apart, which suggests it had a weakly-bound rubble pile internal structure resembling those of asteroids Bennu and Ryugu. It likely began disintegrating sometime in August 2013, one month before it was discovered.

Discovery P/2013 R3 was first detected on 15 September 2013 09:06 UTC by astronomer Richard E. Hill at Catalina Station, Arizona, during routine observations for the Catalina Sky Survey using its 0.68-m Schmidt telescope. Hill did not report on the object's appearance. Concurrent survey observations by the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS 1 telescope at Haleakalā Observatory, Hawaii detected the object several hours later at 13:03 UTC. A group of astronomers investigating the Pan-STARRS 1 images, namely Bryce Bolin, Jan Kleyna, Larry Denneau, and Richard Wainscoat, noticed the object had a diffuse, comet-like appearance with two apparent nuclei separated 3 arcseconds apart and a tail extending more than 14 arcseconds out. They reported the object as a comet candidate to the Minor Planet Center, which alerted other astronomers for follow-up. Follow-up observations from Cerro Tololo and South African Astronomical Observatory on 17 and 24 September 2013 confirmed the object's tail and split nucleus. Amateur astronomers were able to image P/2013 R3, with observers from Japan and Spain noting that the object had brightened by a magnitude or more after a week and a half since discovery. The Minor Planet Center announced the object as a new comet on 27 September 2013 and gave it the periodic comet designation P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) that credited both Catalina Sky Survey and Pan-STARRS 1 for the discovery.

Orbit and classification

P/2013 R3 and its fragments orbit in the outer main asteroid belt at a semi-major axis of 3.03 AU from the Sun, completing one revolution every 5.28 years. It has a low orbital inclination of 0.90° with respect to the ecliptic and a modest orbital eccentricity of 0.273, which makes it come as close as 2.20 AU from the Sun at perihelion to as far as 3.86 AU from the Sun at aphelion. It last passed perihelion on 5 August 2013. The orbit of P/2013 R3 is very close to being in a 9:4 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter, which makes it subject to the planet's gravitational perturbations that can alter its orbit over millions of years. P/2013 R3's orbit in the asteroid belt is unlike typical periodic comets, whose orbits were perturbed out of the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud by the planets. P/2013 R3's Tisserand parameter relative to Jupiter is greater than 3.08, which dynamically distinguishes it as an asteroid rather than a comet. Additionally, cometary volatile ices such as carbon monoxide are expected to have completely sublimated in the asteroid belt since the formation of the Solar System, which makes P/2013 R3 unlikely to be a traditional sublimating comet. For these reasons, P/2013 R3 is classified as an active asteroid, in recognition of its asteroid-like orbit and comet-like appearance.

Possible family In 2018, an orbit analysis by Henry Hsieh and collaborators tentatively determined that one of the asteroid's fragments, P/2013 R3-B, may be related to the 290,000-year-old Mandragora asteroid family of C-type asteroids. However, they were unable to link the other fragment, P/2013 R3-A, to this same family, possibly due to orbital perturbations by the 9:4 Jupiter mean-motion resonance, non-gravitational acceleration by outgassing, or uncertainties in the orbit of P/2013 R3-A. The process by which the Mandragora family formed is unclear due to the unusually uniform size of most of its members; possible explanations include a cratering impact event or a cascading rotational fissioning of the parent body and followed by its fragments.

Activity and disintegration

Mechanism

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS)

In research: P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Active asteroids, Astronomical objects discovered in 2013, Comets in 2013, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) in simple terms?

Why does P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS) matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on P/2013 R3 (Catalina–PanSTARRS).