Orbital perturbation: changes in Asbolus'ssemi-major axis during the next 5500 years. After the encounter with Jupiter in 2700 years, the orbit becomes unpredictable.[21]
Centaurs have shortdynamical lifetimes due toperturbations by the giant planets. Asbolus is estimated to have an orbital half-life of about 860kiloannum.[22] Asbolus is currently classified as a SN centaur since Saturn is considered to control theperihelion and Neptune controls the aphelion.[22]
It currently has aperihelion of 6.8 AU,[1] so it is also influenced by Jupiter. Centaurs with a perihelion less than 6.6 AU are very strongly influenced by Jupiter and for classification purposes are considered to have a perihelion under the control of Jupiter.[22] In about ten thousand years, clones of the orbit of Asbolus suggest that its perihelion classification may come under the control of Jupiter.[23]
Predicting the overall orbit and position of Asbolus beyond a few thousand years is difficult because of errors in the knowntrajectory, error amplification byperturbations due to all of thegiant planets, and the possibility of perturbation as a result ofcometary outgassing and fragmentation. Compared to centaur7066 Nessus, the orbit of Asbolus is currently much more chaotic.
Comparison of sizes, albedos, and colors of various large centaurs with measured diameters. Asbolus is at the left in the bottom row.
No resolved images of it have ever been made, but in 1998spectral analysis of its composition by theHubble Space Telescope revealed a freshimpact crater on its surface, less than 10 million years old.[25]Centaurs are dark in colour, because their icy surfaces have darkened after long exposure tosolar radiation and thesolar wind. However, fresh craters excavate more reflective ice from below the surface, and that is what Hubble has detected on Asbolus.
^abJohn Stansberry; Will Grundy; Mike Brown; Dale Cruikshank; John Spencer; David Trilling; Jean-Luc Margot (2007). "Physical Properties of Kuiper Belt and Centaur Objects: Constraints from Spitzer Space Telescope".arXiv:astro-ph/0702538.
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