C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)

C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)
Discovery
Discovered by Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking
Discovery date August 24, 2001
Orbital characteristics A
Epoch May 18, 2004
(JD 2453143.5)
Aphelion N/A
Perihelion 0.96195 AU (q)
Semi-major axis N/A
Eccentricity 1.00069[1]
1.00067 (epoch 2014+)[2]
Orbital period N/A
Inclination 99.642°
Last perihelion May 15, 2004
Next perihelion ejection

C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) is a comet with an unusual, almost perpendicular retrograde orbit which brings it into the inner solar system by a deeply southward path.[3] It initially emerged from its remote home spending most of its time near the south celestial pole. This comet was discovered on August 24, 2001 by the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking program (NEAT).

In 2004, residents of the southern hemisphere had the opportunity to watch the comet gradually brighten as it raced toward perihelion. On May 6, 2004 the comet approached within 0.32 AU of the Earth.[4] Beginning in early May, the comet started racing north and burst into view in the northern hemisphere when it had reached almost maximum brightness.

With a near perihelion orbital eccentricity of 1.00069 (epoch 2004-May-18)[1] that keeps a barycentric epoch 2014-Jan-01 eccentricity of 1.00067,[2] this hyperbolic comet is going to be ejected from the Solar System.

Footnotes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to C/2001 Q4 (NEAT).
  1. 1 2 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 2005-08-28 last obs. Retrieved 2011-03-11. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. 1 2 Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)". Retrieved 2011-03-10. (Solution using the Solar System Barycenter and barycentric coordinates. Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
  3. ↑ Java applet showing the orbit of comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)
  4. ↑ "JPL Close-Approach Data: C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)". 2006-08-18 last obs. Retrieved 2011-03-10. Check date values in: |date= (help)


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/30/2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.