C/2014 S3 (PanSTARRS)

For other comets of the same name, see List of Pan-STARRS discoveries.

C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS)

Comet PANSTARRS photographed by Karen Jean Meech from ESO on 29 April 2016
Discovery [1]
Discovered by	Pan-STARRS Richard J. Wainscoat, et. al
Discovery site	Haleakala Observatory
Discovery date	22 September 2014
Orbital characteristics [2]
Epoch	8 October 2014 (JD 2456938.5)
Observation arc	57 days
Number of observations	48
Aphelion	174.29 AU
Perihelion	2.049 AU
Semi-major axis	88.168 AU
Eccentricity	0.97676
Orbital period	~830 years
Inclination	169.32°
Longitude of ascending node	356.05°
Argument of periapsis	293.14°
Mean anomaly	0.066°
Last perihelion	13 August 2014
Next perihelion	~2840s
TJupiter	–1.675
Earth MOID	1.089 AU
Jupiter MOID	0.254 AU
Physical characteristics [3]
Mean diameter	0.5–1.4 km (0.31–0.87 mi)
Comet total magnitude (M1)	17.5

C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) is a long-period comet with an approximately 830-year orbit around the Sun. Although it likely originated from the Oort cloud, it has an unusually rocky composition not typically seen in other comets. ^[4]

Observational history

It was discovered as an apparently asteroid-like object with cometary activity from the 1.8 m (5.9 ft) Pan-STARRS telescope of the Haleakala Observatory on 22 September 2014. ^[1] Analysis of imagery by Richard J. Wainscoat and Marco Micheli a day later revealed that the new object looked very compact, with an almost stellar-like core and a faint, diffuse emission surrounding it. ^[1] Follow-up observations from the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) concluded that it has an orbit similar to long-period comets, ^[5] the very first of a new class of objects called Manx comets alongside C/2013 P2 (PANSTARRS). ^[6]

Physical characteristics

Artist's impression of what the nucleus of C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) would look like (Credit: ESO)

With a nucleus estimated to be around 0.5–1.4 km (0.31–0.87 mi) in diameter, C/2014 S3 is the only known rocky object to have originated from the Oort cloud, ^[3] with a physical composition similar to S-type asteroids commonly found within the main asteroid belt. ^[6] This unusual composition has led Karen Jean Meech and her colleagues to hypothesize that C/2014 S3 might have formed within the asteroid belt instead of the Oort cloud itself, probably sent into its current orbit caused by the migration of the giant planets early in the formation of the Solar System itself. ^{[6] [7]}

References

1. R. J. Wainscoat; P. Forshay; M. Micheli; H. Sato (September 2014). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS)" . Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 3990 (1). Bibcode:2014CBET.3990....1W.
2. "C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 8 October 2014.
3. V. Orofino (2022). "Main Belt Comets and other "Interlopers" in the Solar System". Universe. 8 (10). Bibcode:2022Univ....8..518O. doi: 10.3390/universe8100518 .
4. C. Q. Choi (30 April 2016). "Weird Tailless Comet, First Ever Seen, Is a Building Block of Earth". Space.com. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
5. "The unique rocky comet C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS)". www.eso.org. European Southern Observatory. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
6. K. J. Meech; B. Yang; J. Kleyna; O. R. Hainaut; S. Berdyugina; et al. (2016). "Inner solar system material discovered in the Oort cloud". Science Advances. 2 (4). Bibcode:2016SciA....2E0038M. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1600038. PMC   4928888 . PMID   27386512.
7. J. Wenz (29 April 2016). "An asteroid got knocked into a cometary orbit long ago". Astronomy.com. Retrieved 8 June 2025.

External links

• C/2014 S3 at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach  · Discovery  · Ephemeris  · Orbit viewer  · Orbit parameters  · Physical parameters