C/2006 W3 (Christensen)
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.jpg) Comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen) photographed near Mayhill, New Mexico on 25 June 2009 | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Eric J. Christensen |
| Discovery site | Catalina Sky Survey |
| Discovery date | 18 November 2006 |
| Orbital characteristics[2][3] | |
| Epoch | 11 March 2009 (JD 2454901.5) |
| Observation arc | 4.90 years (1,791 days) |
| Earliest precovery date | 29 October 2006 |
| Number of observations | 5,639 |
| Aphelion | ~5,300 AU (inbound) ~8,200 AU (outbound) |
| Perihelion | 3.126 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99982 |
| Orbital period | ~140,000 years (inbound) ~260,000 years (outbound) |
| Max. orbital speed | 23.8 km/s |
| Inclination | 127.07° |
| 113.57° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 133.51° |
| Last perihelion | 6 July 2009 |
| TJupiter | –1.321 |
| Earth MOID | 2.299 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.304 AU |
| Physical characteristics[4][5] | |
Mean radius | 13.0±2.0 km |
| 0.04 (assumed) | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 8.2 |
| 7.6 (2009 apparition) | |
C/2006 W3 (Christensen) is a non-periodic comet that was observed through telescopes between 2006 and 2011. It is one of several comets discovered by American astronomer, Eric J. Christensen.
Physical characteristics
[edit]Infrared observations from Herschel and Spitzer in 2009 allowed astronomers to estimate the size of C/2003 W3's nucleus. Initial estimates in 2010 revealed an effective radius of <26 km (16 mi),[6] however this value was later revised to 13±2 km in 2016, assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ E. J. Christensen (20 November 2006). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen)". IAU Circular. 8777 (1). ISSN 0081-0304.
- ^ "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen) in epoch 1800 and 2200". JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 6 June 2025. (Solution using the Solar System's barycenter (Sun+Jupiter). Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
- ^ "C/2006 W3 (Christensen) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "Observation list for C/2006 W3". COBS – Comet OBServation database. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
- ^ a b P. P. Korsun; I. Kulyk; O. V. Ivanova; O. V. Zakhozhay; et al. (2016). "Optical spectrophotometric monitoring of comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen) before perihelion" (PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics. 596: 48–58. Bibcode:2016A&A...596A..48K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629046.
- ^ D. Bockelée-Morvan; P. Hartogh; J. Crovisier; B. Vandenbussche; B. M. Swinyard; et al. (2010). "A study of the distant activity of comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen) with Herschel and ground-based radio telescopes" (PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics. 518: 149–155. arXiv:1005.1592. Bibcode:2010A&A...518L.149B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201014655.
External links
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to C/2006 W3.
- C/2006 W3 at the JPL Small-Body Database
- C/2006 W3 (Christensen) at the Minor Planet Center
- C/2006 W3 (Christensen) at Seiichi Yoshida's website
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