→2019: Update: but was not recovered until January 3, 2020 when it was 141 degrees from the Sun.
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was last observed in January 2020 and then the world went crazy. :)
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'''168P/Hergenrother''' is a [[List of periodic comets|periodic]] [[comet]] in the [[Solar System]]. The comet originally named '''P/1998 W2''' returned in 2005 and got the temporary name '''P/2005 N2'''.<ref name="recovery"/> The comet was last observed in |
'''168P/Hergenrother''' is a [[List of periodic comets|periodic]] [[comet]] in the [[Solar System]]. The comet originally named '''P/1998 W2''' returned in 2005 and got the temporary name '''P/2005 N2'''.<ref name="recovery"/> The comet was last observed in January 2020,<ref name=MPC/> and may have continued fragmenting after the 2012 outburst. |
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== 2012 outburst == |
== 2012 outburst == |
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168P/Hergenrother during its 2012 outburst. By Mount Lemmon Observatory.
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Discovery | |
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Discovered by | Carl W. Hergenrother |
Discovery date | November 22, 1998 |
Designations | |
P/1998 W2 P/2005 N2 | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch | March 6, 2006 |
Aphelion | 5.839 AU |
Perihelion | 1.426 AU |
Semi-major axis | 3.632 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.6075 |
Orbital period | 6.923 a |
Inclination | 21.8934° |
Last perihelion | August 5, 2019[1][2] (Not recovered) October 1, 2012[3] November 2, 2005 |
Next perihelion | 2026-May-18[1] |
Earth MOID | 0.4 AU (60 million km) |
168P/Hergenrother is a periodic comet in the Solar System. The comet originally named P/1998 W2 returned in 2005 and got the temporary name P/2005 N2.[4] The comet was last observed in January 2020,[1] and may have continued fragmenting after the 2012 outburst.
The comet came to perihelion on 1 October 2012,[3] and was expected to reach about apparent magnitude 15.2, but due to an outburst the comet reached apparent magnitude 8.[5] As a result of the outburst of gas and dust, the comet was briefly more than 500 times brighter than it would have been without the outburst.[6] On 19 October 2012, images by the Virtual Telescope Project showed a dust cloud trailing the nucleus.[7] Images by the 2 m (79 in) Faulkes Telescope North on 26 October 2012 confirm a fragmentation event.[8] The secondary fragment was about magnitude 17. Further observations by the 8.1 m (320 in) Gemini telescope show that the comet fragmented into at least four parts.[9]
168P came to perihelion on August 5, 2019,[1] when it was 76 degrees from the Sun, but was not recovered until January 3, 2020 when it was 141 degrees from the Sun. During the 2019 perihelion passage 168P made a closest approach to Earth on 6 November 2019 when it was 1 AU (150 million km) from Earth with a solar elongation of about 110 degrees.
2019 in space
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