Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Eric J. Christensen |
Discovery date | 26 May 2003 |
Designations | |
P/2003 K2, P/2008 X4 | |
Orbital characteristics [2] | |
Epoch | 3 February 2010 |
Aphelion | 5.817 AU |
Perihelion | 0.534 AU |
Semi-major axis | 3.176 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.8317 |
Orbital period | 5.659 years |
Inclination | 10.217° |
93.872° | |
Argument of periapsis | 345.766° |
Last perihelion | 7 April 2020 |
Next perihelion | 22 November 2025 [3] |
TJupiter | 2.492 |
Earth MOID | 0.170 AU |
Jupiter MOID | 0.018 AU |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | ≤ 1.74 km [4] |
Comet total magnitude (M1) | 14.9 [2] |
210P/Christensen is a Jupiter family periodic comet with an orbital period of 5.7 years. It was discovered by Eric J. Christensen on 26 May 2003 in images taken by the Catalina Sky Survey [1] and recovered in images obtained by STEREO, the first time a single-apparition comet was recovered by a spacecraft. [5]
Eric J. Christensen discovered the comet on 26 May 2003 in images taken with the 0.7-m Schmidt telescope of the Catalina Sky Survey. The comet had an estimated magnitude of 14.6 and a coma with an estimated diameter between 10 and 35 arcseconds and a faint tail. [1] Further observations revealed the comet had a short orbital period. [6]
In mid December 2008, Australian comet-hunter Alan Watson spotted in the STEREO/SECCHI Heliospheric Imager ("HI") HI-1B data a cometary object. Veteran German comet hunter Rainer Kracht recorded a few positions of the comet in the data and produced a set of very approximate orbital elements for it. [5] Maik Meyer noticed the similarity of these orbital elements to those of P/2003 K2 and the link was confirmed by Brian Marsden. [5] [7] This was the first recovery by a spacecraft of a single-apparition comet (a comet that had only been observed to pass the Sun once) by a spacecraft. [5] The comet was observed from the ground on 31 November 2008, with an estimated magnitude of 11. [8]
The comet has been locked in a 2:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter for the last 10,000 years and could be of asteroidal origin. [4]
Tempel 1 is a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel in 1867. It completes an orbit of the Sun every 5.6 years. Tempel 1 was the target of the Deep Impact space mission, which photographed a deliberate high-speed impact upon the comet in 2005. It was re-visited by the Stardust spacecraft on February 14, 2011, and came back to perihelion in August 2016. On 26 May 2024, it will make a modest approach of 0.55 AU to Jupiter which will lift the perihelion distance and 9P will next come to perihelion on 12 February 2028 when it will be 1.77 AU from the Sun.
Kiviuq is a prograde irregular satellite of Saturn. It was discovered by J. J. Kavelaars et al. in 2000, and given the temporary designation S/2000 S 5. It was named after Kiviuq, a hero of Inuit mythology.
Albiorix is a prograde irregular satellite of Saturn. It was discovered by Holman and colleagues in 2000, and given the temporary designation S/2000 S 11.
Comet Boethin was a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered in 1975 by Leo Boethin. It appeared again in January 1986 as expected. Although the comet was next expected at perihelion in April 1997, no observations were reported, and the comet is thought to have disintegrated. It has not been observed since March 1986. The comet might have come to perihelion in late July 2020, but the uncertainty in the comet's position is hundreds of millions of km. The old orbit would have the comet next coming to perihelion around November 2031.
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched in 2006 into orbits around the Sun that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth. This enabled stereoscopic imaging of the Sun and solar phenomena, such as coronal mass ejections.
65P/Gunn is a periodic comet in the Solar System which has a current orbital period of 6.79 years. The comet is a short-period comet, orbiting the Sun every 6.79 years inside the main asteroid belt between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.
Comet 96P/Machholz or 96P/Machholz 1 is a short-period sungrazing comet discovered on May 12, 1986, by amateur astronomer Donald Machholz on Loma Prieta peak, in central California using 130 millimetres (5.1 in) binoculars. On June 6, 1986, 96P/Machholz passed 0.404 AU from the Earth. 96P/Machholz last came to perihelion on January 31, 2023. The comet has an estimated diameter of around 6.4 km (4.0 mi).
Comet Schaumasse is a periodic comet discovered by Alexandre Schaumasse on 1 December 1911 as 12th magnitude. It next comes to perihelion on 8 January 2026 and should brighten to about magnitude 9.
C/2007 F1 (LONEOS) is a hyperbolic comet discovered on March 19, 2007 as part as the Lowell Observatory Near Earth Object Search (LONEOS). The comet reached perihelion, or closest approach to the sun on October 28, 2007.
Comet Lulin is a non-periodic comet. It was discovered by Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng from Lulin Observatory. It peaked in brightness at magnitude between +4.5 and +5, becoming visible to the naked eye, and arrived at perigee for observers on Earth on February 24, 2009, and at 0.411 AU from Earth.
122P/de Vico is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 74 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with. It was discovered by Francesco de Vico in Rome on February 20, 1846.
C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya–Jones) is a long-period comet from the Oort cloud discovered on November 18, 2000, by Syogo Utsunomiya and Albert F. A. L. Jones. The comet reached up to apparent magnitude 5.5, but was only 27 degrees from the Sun in mid-December 2000.
209P/LINEAR is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 5.1 years. The comet has extremely low activity for its size and is probably in the process of evolving into an extinct comet.
Comet 252P/LINEAR is a periodic comet and near-Earth object discovered by the LINEAR survey on April 7, 2000. The comet is a Jupiter family comet, meaning that it passes quite close to the orbit of Jupiter.
104P/Kowal, also known as Kowal 2, is a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered by Charles T. Kowal in 1979. The orbit was confirmed after new sightings in 1991 and 1998.
108P/Ciffréo is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 7 years discovered by Jacqueline Ciffréo on November 8, 1985. The comet is noted for having a peculiar double morphology, in which the nucleus is accompanied by a comoving, detached, diffuse tail, which is probably a perspective artifact of particles ejected sunwards and then repelled by solar wind.
126P/IRAS is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 13.4 years. It was discovered in images taken by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) on 28 July 1983 by J. Davies. The discovery was confirmed with images taken with the 1.2-m Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory.
Comet 141P/Machholz or 141P/Machholz 2 is a periodic Jupiter family comet with an orbital period of 5.3 years. It was discovered by Donald Machholz on 13 August 1994. A few days after the discovery a number of condensations were found near the main component of the comet, indicating that the comet had fragmented between 1987 and 1989, during its previous perihelion.
226P/Pigott–LINEAR–Kowalski is a Jupiter family periodic comet with an orbital period of 7.3 years. It was discovered by Edward Pigott on 19 November 1783, but was subsequently lost, until it was recovered on 5 January 2003 by Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR). It will next come to perihelion on 27 December 2023 at about apparent magnitude 15.
323P/SOHO is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 4.15 years discovered in images obtained by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). It is considered to be a sungrazing comet due to its perihelion being very close to the Sun. 323P/SOHO has the smallest perihelion of all numbered comets.