External links
- C/2013 X1 at the JPL Small-Body Database
- C/2013 X1 (PanSTARRS) at Seiichi Yoshida's website
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Pan-STARRS |
| Discovery date | 4 December 2013 |
| Orbital characteristics [1] [2] | |
| Epoch | 20 December 2015 (JD 2457376.5) |
| Observation arc | 4.28 years |
| Earliest precovery date | 17 October 2013 |
| Number of observations | 539 |
| Aphelion | ~7,960 AU (inbound) |
| Perihelion | 1.314 AU |
| Semi-major axis | ~3,980 AU (inbound) |
| Eccentricity | 0.99967 (inbound) 1.00047 (outbound) |
| Inclination | 163.23° |
| 130.95° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 164.46° |
| Mean anomaly | –0.003° |
| Last perihelion | 20 April 2016 |
| Earth MOID | 0.309 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.084 AU |
| Physical characteristics [3] [4] | |
| Dimensions | 3.4–7.4 km (2.1–4.6 mi) |
Mean diameter | 5.4 km (3.4 mi) |
| 24.02±02 hours | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 10.7 |
| 6.1 (2016 apparition) [5] | |
C/2013 X1 (PanSTARRS) is a hyperbolic comet observed through telescopes between October 2013 and January 2018. [2] [5] It is one of many comets discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey.
Its nucleus has an estimated effective diameter of 5.4 km (3.4 mi). [3]
Photometric observations conducted in 2016 initially indicated that the comet has a rotation period of 11.95±0.36 hours. [6] Revised geometric models in 2024 revealed that the comet has a longer rotation period of 24.02±0.2 hours. [4]
Ground observations conducted at the Special Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO) detected emissions of carbon atoms (C
2, C
3), cyanogens (CN), and amides (NH
2) within the coma. [7]
