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Author Topic: Mistakenly identified comet?  (Read 2481 times)

planetaryscience

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Mistakenly identified comet?
« on: December 27, 2016, 10:09:48 PM »
I was attempting to add 2005 HC4 to the solar system, and discovered quite suddenly that it had been identified as a comet! With a composition of 100% silicates, a density of 1.5 g/cm^3, and a mass of 2.22e10 kilograms, as well as being over 2 AU from the Sun, there is no reason that 2005 HC4 should be identified as losing mass at 1 gram per second, besides its low perihelion distance. Is the game mistakenly identifying it as a comet, or could this potentially be residual dust blown off from past orbits?