C/2017 S3 (PANSTARRS)

DISINTEGRATED

Type: Hyperbolic Perihelion date: 15 August 2018 Perihelion distance (q): 0.2 Aphelion distance (Q) : n/a Period (years): n/a Eccentricity (e): 1.00 Inclination (i): 99.0 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve A 21st magnitude comet was discovered in PanSTARRS 1 images taken with the 1.8m Ritchey-Chretien on 23 September 2017. It had been posted on the PCCP as P10DwLA. The comet was at perihelion at 0.2 au in August 2018. It was reported as unexpectly bright in images taken by Michael Jager on 1 July, when compared to the previous day, with an estimated magnitude of 9. It was not clear at the time whether this was an outburst or the coma passing a threshold. The comet passed into conjunction and was not recovered when it emerged. JJ Gonzalez was however able to see the faint cloud of material that was all that remained of the comet in October and November. Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 27-Sep-17 20.29 0.08 20.0 0.2 11-Oct-17 20.58 0.31 19.6 0.2 24-Jun-18 15.50 0.02 12.4 1.2 14-Jul-18 14.41 0.07 11.2 3.8