C/2015 G2 (MASTER) is a comet discovered April 7, 2015 by MASTER, the Mobile Astronomical System of the Telescope-Robots at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO).[1] It was the first comet discovered from South Africa in 35 years.[2]
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovery date | 2015/04/07 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 2015-Apr-21 (JD 2457133.5) |
| Observation arc | 54 days |
| Number of observations | 230 |
| Perihelion | 0.779879 AU |
| Eccentricity | 1.00045 (1950) 1.00085 (2015) 1.00078 (2050) |
| Inclination | 147.5613° |
| Last perihelion | May 23, 2015 |
| Next perihelion | Ejection |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 11.6 ± 1 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 14.5 ± 0.9 |
Discovery was confirmed April 10, 2015 by the Minor Planet Center.[2] It was at magnitude 10.7 at discovery and by mid-May it had reached magnitude 6.0.[3]