Type Hyperbolic Perihelion Date 20 December 2022 Perihelion Distance (q) 1.8 Aphelion Distance (Q) n/a Period (Years)   n/a Eccentricity (e)   1.0 Inclination (i)   87.5 Click for NASA orbit diagram

A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey- Chretien on 21 May 2017.  The comet is at perihelion at 1.8 au in 2023 April and has a period of around 400 years. The comet was over 16 au from the Sun at discovery. The error bars are about a month on the date of perihelion, and 115 years in the orbital period according to JPL.  JPL and the MPC give different absolute magnitudes for the comet, so its likely future brightness evolution is not well determined either.  It is possible that when further observations are available the comet will be linked to a previously known one. Date 10x10 mag Error Kphot mag Coma ' 21-Jun-17 18.22 0.09 17.8 0.2 18-Jul-17 18.42 0.06 16.2 0.2 29-Aug-17 19.04 0.05 18.3 0.2 12-Sep-17 18.99 0.04 17.8 0.2 11-Oct-17 18.98 0.14 18.5 0.2 18-Feb-18 18.66 0.13 18.1 0.2 17-Mar-18 18.34 0.06 17.4 0.3 16-Apr-18 18.38 0.03 18.0 0.3 08-Jun-18 18.39 0.01 17.6 0.3 24-Jun-18 18.36 0.02 17.3 0.4 14-Jul-18 18.36 0.05 17.8 0.2 03-Aug-18   18.31   0.05   17.6   0.3 28-Aug-18 18.40 0.03 17.7 0.3 27-Sep-18 18.53 0.03 17.7 0.3 04-Oct-18 18.49 0.06 17.8 0.3