6478 Gault
Gault's two comet-like tails seen from Hubble on February 5th 2019 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Shoemaker E. Shoemaker |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 12 May 1988 |
| Designations | |
| (6478) Gault | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɡɔːlt/ |
Named after | Donald Gault (American planetary geologist) |
| 1988 JC1 · 1995 KC1 | |
| main-belt · (inner) Phocaea · MBC | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 17 December 2020 (JD 2459200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 62.10 yr (22,681 d) |
| Earliest precovery date | 11 December 1958 |
| Aphelion | 2.7513 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8587 AU |
| 2.3050 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1936 |
| 3.50 yr (1,278 d) | |
| 98.412° | |
| 0° 16m 53.76s / day | |
| Inclination | 22.813° |
| 183.538° | |
| 2023-Jul-04 | |
| 83.172° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 2.8+0.4 −0.2 km | |
| 2.4929±0.0003 h | |
| 0.26±0.05 0.13±0.04 | |
| S (est. family-based) | |
| 14.4 | |
6478 Gault, provisional designation 1988 JC1, is a Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3.7 kilometers (2.3 miles) in diameter. The likely S-type asteroid was discovered on 12 May 1988 by astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. It was named in honor of planetary geologist Donald Gault. In January 2019, it was found that Gault shows cometary activity and that it has multiple tails, making it an active asteroid. It was subsequently realised that it had been active since at least 2013.