C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring)

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C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring)
Comet Siding Spring.jpg
Infrared image of C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring) taken by WISE on 10 January 2010 [1]
Discovery [2] [3]
Discovered by Donna M. Burton
Discovery site Siding Spring, Australia
0.5-m Schmidt (E12)
Discovery date25 August 2007
Orbital characteristics [4] [5]
Epoch 20 August 2009 (JD 2455063.5)
Observation arc 4.02 years (1,470 days)
Number of
observations		1,333
Orbit type Oort cloud
Aphelion ~69,000 AU (inbound)
~15,000 AU (outbound)
Perihelion 2.252 AU
Semi-major axis ~7,500 AU (outbound)
Eccentricity 1.0002077
Orbital period 6.4 million years (inbound)
~650,000 years (outbound)
Inclination 65.650°
149.41°
Argument of
periapsis 		2.093°
Last perihelion7 October 2009
TJupiter 0.767
Earth MOID 1.262 AU
Jupiter MOID 3.129 AU
Physical characteristics [5] [6]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		8.6
8.7
(2009 apparition)

C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring), is an Oort cloud comet that was discovered by Donna Burton in 2007 at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia. [7] Siding Spring came within 1.2 AU (180 million km) of Earth and 2.25 AU (337 million km) of the Sun on October 7, 2009. [1] The comet was visible with binoculars until January 2010. [7]

Contents

Observations and orbit

Images of the comet taken in March 2010 by N. Howes using the Faulkes telescope, showed that the nucleus had fragmented. [8]

The comet has an observation arc of 1,333 days and was continuously observed until September 2011. [5] The orbit of a long-period comet is properly obtained when the osculating orbit is computed at an epoch after leaving the planetary region and is calculated with respect to the center of mass of the Solar System. Using JPL Horizons, the barycentric orbital elements for epoch 2030-Jan-01 generate a semi-major axis of 7,500 AU (0.119 ly), an apoapsis distance of 15,000 AU (0.24 ly), and a period of approximately 650,000 years. [4]

Before entering the planetary region (epoch 1950), C/2007 Q3 had a calculated barycentric orbital period of ~6.4 million years with an apoapsis (aphelion) distance of about 69,000 AU (1.09 ly). [4] The comet was probably in the outer Oort cloud for millions or billions of years with a loosely bound chaotic orbit until it was perturbed inward. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Visitor from Deep Space". NASA / JPL. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  2. ↑ D. M. Burton (30 August 2007). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring)". IAU Circular. 8865.
  3. ↑ B. G. Marsden (30 August 2007). "MPEC 2007-Q44 : Comet C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring)". Minor Planet Center. ISSN   1523-6714 . Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring)" . Retrieved 12 March 2025. Solution using the Solar System Barycenter. Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0 (To be outside planetary region, inbound epoch 1950 and outbound epoch 2050)
  5. 1 2 3 "C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  6. ↑ "Observations list for C/2007 Q3". Comet Observations Database. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  7. 1 2 K. Evans (19 February 2010). "'Australian' comet captured by NASA". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Archived from the original on February 21, 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  8. ↑ E. Baldwin (17 March 2010). "Is Comet Siding Spring splitting up?". Astronomy Now. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  9. ↑ "Multimedia Gallery: Comet Siding Spring streaking across the sky". WISE. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
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