C/2007 W1 (Boattini)

Last updated

C/2007 W1 (Boattini)
Discovery [1]
Discovered by Andrea Boattini
Discovery site Mt. Lemmon Survey (G96)
Discovery date20 November 2007
Designations
CK07W010 [1]
Orbital characteristics [2] [3] [4]
Epoch 25 May 2008 (JD 2454611.5)
Observation arc 597 days (1.63 years)
Number of
observations
1,639
Aphelion ~3,163 AU
Perihelion 0.84972 AU
Semi-major axis ~1,582 AU
Eccentricity 1.00015
Orbital period ~63,000 years
Inclination 9.8903°
334.53°
Argument of
periapsis
306.55°
Last perihelion24 June 2008
Earth MOID 0.0179 AU
Jupiter MOID 0.0160 AU
Physical characteristics [5] [6]
Mean radius
0.65±0.03 km
Mass 4.6×1011 kg
Mean density
440±60 kg/m3
Comet total
magnitude
(M1)
15.0
5.0
(2008 apparition) [7]

C/2007 W1 (Boattini) is a non-periodic comet discovered on 20 November 2007, by Andrea Boattini at the Mt. Lemmon Survey. [1] At the peak the comet had an apparent magnitude around 5. [7]

Contents

Observational history

On 3 April 2008, when C/2007 W1 was 0.66 AU from the Earth and 1.7AU from the Sun, the coma (expanding tenuous dust atmosphere) of the comet was estimated to be as large as 10 arcminutes. [8] This made the coma roughly 90,000 km (56,000 mi) in diameter. [a]

On 30 April 2008, Alexandre Amorim reported that the comet was a magnitude 7.3 object as seen in 10 × 50 binoculars. [9] By 8 May 2008, David Seargent noted that it brightened up to magnitude 6.4 in the naked eye. [10] It was located within the constellation Pyxis on 20 May 2008. [11]

Orbit

On 12 June 2008, the comet passed within about 0.21005 AU (31,423,000 km; 19,525,000 mi) of the Earth. [3] The comet came to perihelion on 24 June 2008 at a distance of 0.8497 AU (127.11 million km). [3]

The comet has an observation arc of 597 days [3] allowing a good estimate of the orbit. 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 2020-Jan-01 generate a semi-major axis of 1,582 AU, an apoapsis distance of 3,163 AU, and a period of approximately 63,000 years. [2] [4]

A 2022 study calculated that it has a minimum orbit intersection distance of around 0.061 AU (9.1 million km) and 0.044 AU (6.6 million km) with 55637 Uni and (307762) 2003 VC1 respectively. [12]

Before entering the planetary region, C/2007 W1 had a hyperbolic trajectory. [2] The comet was probably in the outer Oort cloud with a loosely bound chaotic orbit that was easily perturbed by passing stars.

Meteor shower

A meteor shower known as the Daytime Craterids has been associated with C/2007 W1, thus becoming the first hyperbolic comet associated with a meteor shower. The meteor shower produced daytime outbursts in 2003 and 2009, with a Zenithal Hourly Rate of over 30 meteors per hour observed with radar. [13]

References

Notes

  1. Math: 10' × 60" / 206265 × 0.66 AU × 149,597,870.7 km = 287,207 km

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 B. G. Marsden (23 November 2007). "MPEC 2007-W63: Comet C/2007 W1 (Boattini)". www.minorplanetcenter.net. Minor Planet Center. ISSN   1523-6714 . Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/2007 W1 (Boattini)" . Retrieved 13 April 2011. (Solution using the Solar System Barycenter and barycentric coordinates. Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
  3. 1 2 3 4 "C/2007 W1 (Boattini) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  4. 1 2 T. Plotner (12 June 2008). "Comet Boattini Sails Towards the Sun". Universe Today. Universe Today . Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  5. A. Sosa; Y. R. Fernández (2011). "Masses of long-period comets derived from non-gravitational effects" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 416 (1): 767–782. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19111.x .
  6. M. L. Paradowski (2022). "A New Indirect Method of Determining Density of Cometary Nuclei" (PDF). Acta Astronomica. 72 (2): 141–159. Bibcode:2022AcA....72..141P. doi: 10.32023/0001-5237/72.2.4 . ISSN   0001-5237.
  7. 1 2 S. Yoshida. "C/2007 W1 (Boattini)". www.aerith.net. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  8. D. W. Green (4 April 2008). "NR Tri AUSTRALIS = N Tri AUSTRALIS 2008; C/2007 W1". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 7148.
  9. D. W. Green (15 May 2008). "Comet C/2007 W1 (Boattini)". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 8945.
  10. R. W. Sinnott (16 May 2008). "Comet Boattini Brightens". Sky & Telescope . Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  11. R. Talcott (20 May 2008). "Look quick to spy a bright comet". Astronomy . Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  12. S. Nabiyev; J. Yalim; A. Guliyev; R. Guliyev (2022). "Hyperbolic Comets as an Indicator of a Hypothetical Planet 9 in the Solar System". Advances in Space Research. 69 (8): 3182–3203. Bibcode:2022AdSpR..69.3182N. doi: 10.1016/j.asr.2022.02.001 .
  13. P. A. Wiegert; P. G. Brown; R. J. Weryk; D. K. Wong (2011). "The Daytime Craterids, a radar-detected meteor shower outburst from hyperbolic comet C/2007 W1 (Boattini): The Daytime Craterids" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 414 (1): 668–676. Bibcode:2011MNRAS.414..668W. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18432.x .