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Hubble WFC3 Image of P/2010 A2 (March 12, 2010)

About the Object

Distance
DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
1.564 AU (145 million mi, 234 million km)

About the Data

Data Description
Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
The image was created from Hubble data from proposals 12053, 12077, and 12305: D. Jewitt (UCLA), H. Weaver (JPL/APL), M. Drahus (UCLA), and M. Mutchler (STScI).
Instrument
InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
HST>WFC3/UVIS
Exposure Dates
Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
March 12, 2010
Filters
FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
F606W (V)

Object Name
Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Asteroid P/2010 A2
Object Description
Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
Asteroid Belt Impact Object
Release Date
October 13, 2010
Science Release
Hubble Finds that a Bizarre X-Shaped Intruder Is Linked to an Unseen Asteroid Collision
Read the release
Credit
NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA)

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This image was originally black and white and recorded only overall brightness. These brightness values were translated into a range of bluish hues. Such color "maps" can be useful in helping to distinguish subtly varying brightness in an image.

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