Program: GN-2021B-FT-205

2005 QN173 is an asteroid in the main asteroid belt which was discovered to be active in images taken with the ATLAS survey during July 2021. In order to assess whether or not this is a main belt comet (MBC), e.g. tail is formed by water ice drive sublimation, we will (1) obtain a spectrum in late September when the object is at its brightest, and (2) obtain monthly images to model the dust tail. There are only about a dozen main belt comets, and their volatiles may hold critical clues that will help us understand how volatiles arrived in the inner solar system. Because of this, they are of high interest for space missions, and the planetary community is eager to fully characterize each new main belt comet. MBCs have flat featureless reflection spectra. Collisional disruptions and rotational ejection of material can have tails dominated by extremely large grains which will behave differently under the influence of solar radiation pressure compared to small grains lifted by sublimation. The images will be used for modeling.