C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE)

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C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE)
C2016U1 2016-11-21 NEOWISE image 3-color.png
Infrared image of C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE) taken on 21 November 2016
Discovery [1]
Discovered by NEOWISE
Discovery date21 October 2016
Orbital characteristics [2]
Epoch 12 December 2016 (JD 2457734.5)
Observation arc 83 days
Number of
observations		366
Perihelion 0.319 AU
Eccentricity 1.00025
Inclination 46.435°
61.429°
Argument of
periapsis 		162.75°
Mean anomaly –0.001°
Last perihelion14 January 2017
TJupiter 0.489
Earth MOID 0.589 AU
Jupiter MOID 0.811 AU
Physical characteristics
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		13.1
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)		19.5
6.8
(2017 apparition) [3]

C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE) is a non-periodic comet discovered on 21 October 2016 by NEOWISE, the asteroid-and-comet-hunting portion of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. [4] [5] The comet brightened to magnitude +6.8 [6] and could be observed with binoculars, [7] during the first week of 2017 and it was closest to the Sun on 14 January 2017. [4] [8]

Contents

Orbit

It was closest to the Earth on 13 December 2016 at a distance of 0.709 AU (106.1 million km) away, [7] and it is not considered a threat to Earth. [4] The aphelion of the comet lies at the inner edge of the Oort cloud and it is possible that the 2017 perihelion was not the first and that during a previous perihelion planetary perturbations pushed the comet towards the Oort cloud. Despite its small size, the comet survived perihelion and was observed for days from the SWAN instrument on board SOHO. [9]

Orbit of C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE) on 14 January 2017, closest approach to the Sun. Comet-C2016U1Neowise-Orbit-20170114.png
Orbit of C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE) on 14 January 2017, closest approach to the Sun.

References

  1. ↑ C. Wipper; D. J. Tholen; A. K. Mainzer; et al. (3 November 2016). "Comet C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE)". Minor Planet Electronic Circulars. 2016-V16. Bibcode:2016MPEC....V...16W.
  2. 1 2 "C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE) – JPL Dmall-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "Observation list for C/2016 U1". COBS – Comet OBServation database. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Agle, DC; Cantillo, Laurie; Brown, Dwayne (29 December 2016). "NASA's NEOWISE mission spies one comet – maybe two". NASA . Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  5. 1 2 Dickinson, David (28 December 2016). "Comet U1 NEOWISE – a possible binocular comet?". Phys.org . Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "Weekly Information about Bright Comets (2017 Jan. 14: North)". www.aerith.net. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  7. 1 2 MacDonald, Fiona (31 December 2016). "A rare comet is zooming past Earth right now, and you should be able to see it with binoculars". ScienceAlert.com. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  8. ↑ Williams, Matt (30 December 2016). "NASA'S NEOWISE mission spots new comets". Universe Today . Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  9. ↑ Z. Sekanina (2019). "1I/'Oumuamua and the Problem of Survival of Oort Cloud Comets Near the Sun". arXiv: 1903.06300 [astro-ph.EP].
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