133P/Elst-Pizarro
From Free net encyclopedia
Current revision
Comet Elst-Pizarro is a remarkable body in that it displays characteristics of both asteroids and comets [1], and is the prototype of main-belt comets. Its orbit keeps it within the asteroid main belt, while it displays a dust tail like a comet.
- As a comet it is formally designated 133P/Elst-Pizarro.
- As an asteroid it is designated 7968 Elst-Pizarro.
Elst-Pizarro was reported in 1979 as minor planet 1979 OW7, with its image on a photographic plate being completely stellar in appearance. The orbit remains entirely within the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, with eccentricity 0.165, typical of a minor planet in the asteroid belt. However, the images taken by Eric W. Elst and Guido Pizarro in 1996, when it was near perihelion, clearly show a cometary tail. Since this is not normal behaviour for asteroids, Elst-Pizarro must have a widely different, probably icy, composition.
At present, there are only three other objects that are cross-listed as both comets and asteroids: 2060 Chiron (95P/Chiron), Comet 107P/Wilson-Harrington (4015 Wilson-Harrington) and 60558 Echeclus (174P/Echeclus).
Template:MinorPlanets Navigator Template:PeriodicComets Navigator
| The minor planetsedit |
| Vulcanoids | Near-Earth asteroids | Main belt | Jupiter Trojans | Centaurs | Damocloids | Comets | Trans-Neptunians (Kuiper belt · Scattered disc · Oort cloud) |
| For other objects and regions, see: asteroid groups and families, binary asteroids, asteroid moons and the Solar system For a complete listing, see: List of asteroids. See also Pronunciation of asteroid names and Meanings of asteroid names. |