 The recovery image of the comet by STEREO, on 13 December 2008 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Eric J. Christensen |
| Discovery date | 26 May 2003 |
| Designations | |
| Alternative designations | P/2003 K2, P/2008 X4 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 3 February 2010 |
| Aphelion | 5.817 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.534 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.176 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.8317 |
| Orbital period | 5.659 years |
| Inclination | 10.217° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 93.872° |
| Argument of periapsis | 345.766° |
| Last perihelion | 7 April 2020 |
| Next perihelion | 22 November 2025 |
| TJupiter | 2.492 |
| Earth MOID | 0.170 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.018 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | ≤ 1.74 km |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 14.9 |
210P/Christensen is a Jupiter family periodic comet with an orbital period of 5.7 years. It was discovered by Eric J. Christensen on 26 May 2003 in images taken by the Catalina Sky Survey and recovered in images obtained by STEREO, the first time a single-apparition comet was recovered by a spacecraft.
Eric J. Christensen discovered the comet on 26 May 2003 in images taken with the 0.7-m Schmidt telescope of the Catalina Sky Survey. The comet had an estimated magnitude of 14.6 and a coma with an estimated diameter between 10 and 35 arcseconds and a faint tail. Further observations revealed the comet had a short orbital period.
In mid December 2008, Australian comet-hunter Alan Watson spotted in the STEREO/SECCHI Heliospheric Imager ("HI") HI-1B data a cometary object. Veteran German comet hunter Rainer Kracht recorded a few positions of the comet in the data and produced a set of very approximate orbital elements for it. Maik Meyer noticed the similarity of these orbital elements to those of P/2003 K2 and the link was confirmed by Brian Marsden. This was the first recovery by a spacecraft of a single-apparition comet (a comet that had only been observed to pass the Sun once) by a spacecraft. The comet was observed from the ground on 31 November 2008, with an estimated magnitude of 11.
The comet has been locked in a 2:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter for the last 10,000 years and could be of asteroidal origin.
References
- ^ Green, Daniel (27 May 2003). "IAUC 8136: C/2003 K2; 2003ej, 2003ek,, 2003el". www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- "210P/Christensen". www.aerith.net. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ "Small-Body Database Lookup: 210P/IRAS". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
- ^ Fernández, Julio A.; Sosa, Andrea (1 December 2015). "Jupiter family comets in near-Earth orbits: Are some of them interlopers from the asteroid belt?". Planetary and Space Science. 118: 14–24. Bibcode:2015P&SS..118...14F. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2015.07.010.
- ^ "SECCHI Makes a Fantastic Recovery!". stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- Green, Daniel (7 June 2003). "IAUC 8145: C/2003 L1; P/2003 K2; C/2003 K4". www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- Battams, K.; Watson, A.; Kracht, R.; Meyer, M.; Marsden, B. G. (1 December 2008). "Comet P/2008 X4 = P/2003 K2 (Christensen)". International Astronomical Union Circular (9005): 1. Bibcode:2008IAUC.9005....1B. ISSN 0081-0304.
- Kadota, K.; Marsden, B. G. (1 January 2009). "Comet P/2008 X4 (Christensen)". International Astronomical Union Circular (9008): 2. Bibcode:2009IAUC.9008....2K. ISSN 0081-0304.
External links
| Numbered comets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous 209P/LINEAR |
210P/Christensen | Next 211P/Hill |
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