Travelers in the Night Eps. 351E & 352E: Active Asteroid & Flying Mud Balls

<p>Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( <a href= "https://twitter.com/Nmcanopus">@Nmcanopus</a> ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. <a href= "http://travelersinthenight.org">travelersinthenight.org</a></p> <p><strong>From August & September 2025.</strong></p> <p><strong>Today's 2 topics:</strong></p> <p>- When it was first spotted by astronomers at Space Watch on Kitt Peak, 2008 GO98 appeared to be one of many outer main belt asteroids moving through the night sky. 9 years later when my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Greg Leonard observed it with our 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon it had a coma and a tail like a comet. Active asteroids like 2008 GO98 have asteroid orbits but sometimes show cometary activity which could be caused by a collision with another object and/or by thermal fracturing and ice sublimation caused by the slight warming they obtain from sunlight.</p> <p> </p> <p>- 75% of ...