C/2021 T4 (Lemmon)

C/2021 T4 (Lemmon) is an inbound long period comet discovered by the Mount Lemmon Observatory on 7 October 2021.[2] This passage through the planetary region of the Solar System will reduce the orbital period from millions of years to thousands of years.[1]

C/2021 T4 (Lemmon)
Discovery
Discovery date7 October 2021
Designations
CK21T040, C6131F2
Orbital characteristics
Observation arc1.7 years
Aphelion≈44,000 AU (inbound)[1]
≈2,200 AU (outbound)
Perihelion1.4823 AU
Eccentricity0.99970
Orbital periodmillions of years (inbound)[1]
≈36,000 years (outbound)
Inclination160.76°
257.79°
Argument of
periapsis		329.78°
Next perihelion31 July 2023
Earth MOID0.497 AU (74.4 million km)
Jupiter MOID0.869 AU (130.0 million km)
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		6.9

It has been south of the celestial equator since October 2022. On 13 June it will be 1.5 degrees from magnitude 2 Beta Ceti. Closest approach to Earth is on 20 July 2023 at a distance of 0.54 AU (81 million km).[3] It comes to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 31 July 2023 at a solar distance of 1.48 AU. The comet is expected to brighten to around apparent magnitude 8.[4]

References
  1. Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/2021 T4 (Lemmon)". Retrieved 2023-04-26. (Solution using the Solar System's barycenter (Sun+Jupiter). Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0) Epoch 1800 has PR= 1E+9 / 365.25 days = millions of years
  2. "MPEC 2021-U187 : COMET C/2021 T4 (Lemmon)". minorplanetcenter.net. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  3. Earth Approach 2023 (delta. Close approach occurs when deldot flips from negative to positive.)
  4. C/2021 T4 ( Lemmon ) mag chart by Seiichi Yoshida
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.