Lazarus comets' discovered in the Asteroid Belt
Astronomers have found a group of comets that have risen from the dead.
The asteroidal belt comets - or ABCs for short - lie in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, report astronomers on the on the pre press website ArXiv.org.
Dr Ignacio Ferrin, Dr Jorge Zuluaga and Pablo Cuartas from Columbia's University of Antioquia, say the group of eleven objects behave like comets, but have asteroidal orbits.
They propose the objects they've dubbed 'Lazarus comets' are extinct comets that have been rejuvenated when their orbits changed.
"The asteroidal belt contains an enormous graveyard of ancient dormant and extinct rocky comets, that [are rejuvenated], in response to a diminution of their perihelion distance [closest orbital position to the Sun]," the authors write.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/05/21/3761473.htm#.UZuSfeDv2kJ
