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Discovery
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| Discovery date | 2005 October 24 | ||||||
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Designations
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| Minor planet category |
Main-belt comet[1][2] | ||||||
| Epoch January 27, 2006 T_jup = 3.153 |
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| Aphelion | 3.9643 AU (Q) | ||||||
| Perihelion | 2.3646 AU (q) | ||||||
| Semi-major axis | 3.1645 AU (a) | ||||||
| Eccentricity | 0.25275 | ||||||
| Orbital period | 5.63 yr | ||||||
| Mean anomaly | 32.070° (M) | ||||||
| Inclination | 1.2661° | ||||||
| Longitude of ascending node | 51.645° | ||||||
| Argument of perihelion | 325.76° | ||||||
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Physical characteristics
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| Dimensions | ~0.6 km[4] | ||||||
| Mean density | 1.0(?) g/cm³ (assumed)[4] | ||||||
| Albedo | 0.04 (assumed)[4] | ||||||
| Surface temp. Kelvin[4] |
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| Apparent magnitude | 19.62 to 23.41 | ||||||
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 20.1 ± 0.4R[4] | ||||||
238P/Read (P/2005 U1) is a Main-belt comet[1][2] discovered on 2005 October 24. It has an orbit within the main asteroid belt and has displayed the coma of a traditional comet.
Before it was discovered 238P came to perihelion on 2005 July 27.[3] When it was discovered on 2005 October 24, it showed vigorous cometary activity until 2005 December 27.[4] Outgassing likely began at least 2 months before discovery.[4] The activity of 238P is much stronger than 133P/Elst-Pizarro and 176P/LINEAR.[4] This may indicate that the impact assumed to have triggered 238P's activity occurred very recently.[4]
Observations of 238P when it was inactive in 2007 suggests that it has a small nucleus only about 0.6 km in diameter.[4]
It last came to perihelion on 2011 March 10,[4] and will next come to perihelion on 2016 October 22.[5]