C/2017 M4 (ATLAS)

DEPARTED

Type: Hyperbolic Perihelion date: 18 January 2019 Perihelion distance (q): 3.2 Aphelion distance (Q) : n/a Period (years): n/a Eccentricity (e): 1.00 Inclination (i): 105.7 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve An 18th magnitude comet was discovered in images taken with the 0.5m Schmidt at Haleakala on 21 June 2017 by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) team. There were also PanSTARRS images from 16 June. Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 28-Jun-17 18.24 0.06 17.9 0.3 16-Jul-17 17.61 0.13 17.5 0.2 30-Jul-17 17.71 0.11 17.2 0.3 13-Aug-17 17.61 0.04 17.4 0.3 20-Aug-17 17.76 0.07 17.2 0.3 30-Aug-17 17.70 0.10 17.1 0.3 09-Sep-17 17.37 0.03 16.7 0.3 17-Sep-17 17.60 0.06 17.2 0.3 25-Sep-17 17.49 0.03 17.2 0.3 11-Oct-17 17.52 0.03 17.0 0.3 27-Oct-17 17.18 0.05 16.0 0.3 23-Nov-17 16.94 0.06 16.5 0.3 14-Feb-18 16.38 0.02 15.8 0.3 13-Mar-18 16.25 0.03 15.3 0.3 10-Apr-18 15.68 0.04 13.7 0.5 17-Apr-18 15.92 0.02 15.1 0.4 09-May-18 15.69 0.01 14.7 0.6 21-May-18 15.56 0.01 14.3 0.5 04-Jun-18 15.50 0.02 14.1 0.7 08-Jun-18 15.50 0.00 14.4 0.6 13-Jul-18 15.42 0.00 14.0 0.9 03-Aug-18 15.34 0.01 14.0 0.9 10-Aug-18 15.36 0.01 13.7 1.0 28-Aug-18 15.32 0.04 13.6 0.9 10-Sep-18 15.33 0.04 13.6 1.0 08-May-19 14.37 0.03 11.9 1.3 27-May-19 13.87 0.07 11.2 1.2