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C/2022 A2 (PanSTARRS)

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(Redirected from C/2022 A2) Hyperbolic comet For other comets discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey, see List of Pan-STARRS discoveries.
C/2022 A2 (PanSTARRS)
Comet PanSTARRS photographed from the Zwicky Transient Facility on 12 January 2023
Discovery
Discovered byRobert J. Weryk
Discovery siteHaleakalā Observatory
(Pan-STARRS)
Discovery date10 January 2022
Designations
Alternative designationsCK22A020
P21q8AG
Orbital characteristics
Epoch25 April 2023 (JD 2460059.5)
Observation arc935 days (2.56 years)
Earliest precovery date9 January 2022
Number of
observations		2,731
Perihelion1.735 AU
Eccentricity1.00038
Inclination108.15°
Longitude of
ascending node		171.58°
Argument of
periapsis		88.368°
Last perihelion18 February 2023
Earth MOID1.435 AU
Jupiter MOID0.918 AU
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		8.3
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)		11.8

Comet PanSTARRS, formal designation C/2022 A2, is a faint hyperbolic comet that passed through the inner Solar System in February 2023. It is one of many comets discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey.

Observational history

The comet was discovered as a 20th-magnitude object by the Pan-STARRS telescope of the Haleakalā Observatory on the night of 10 January 2022. Prediscovery images taken a day earlier allowed Shuichi Nakano to refine the first orbital calculations for the comet, which turned out to be hyperbolic.

Between 7 and 10 December 2022, Rob Matson had spotted the comet in images taken by the SWAN instrument aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), indicating that it has brightened more rapidly than expected. Later on 19 December 2022, chemical production rates from the comet were measured by the TRAPPIST telescopes, detecting emissions of OH, CN, as well as C2 and C3-carbon compounds from its coma.

It made its first and last perihelion on 18 February 2023, making its closest approach to the Sun at a distance of 1.735 AU (259.6 million km). It is expected that the comet will be ejected from the Solar System due to its hyperbolic trajectory around the Sun.

References

  1. D. W. Green (1 February 2022). "Comet C/2022 A2 (PanSTARRS)". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 5093.
  2. "C/2022 A2 (PanSTARRS) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  3. ^ J. Shanklin (4 June 2024). "BAA Comet Section: Comets in 2022". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  4. "MPEC 2022-C01: Comet C/2022 A2 (PanSTARRS)". www.minorplanetcenter.net. Minor Planet Center. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  5. E. Jehin; M. Vander Donckt; J. Manfroid; S. Hmiddouch; et al. (23 December 2022). "TRAPPIST comets production rates: C/2022 E3 (ZTF), C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS), C/2022 U2 (ATLAS), C/2020 V2 (ZTF), C/2021 Y1 (ATLAS), 118P, 81P, and 73P/SW-3". The Astronomer's Telegram. 15822: 1. Bibcode:2022ATel15822....1J.
  6. S. Waldek (16 February 2023). "Comet C/2022 A2 (Pan-STARRS) passes close by the sun this weekend". Space.com. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  7. R. Lea (18 February 2023). "Watch a comet make its 1st and final pass by the sun this weekend". Space.com. Retrieved 20 January 2025.

External links

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