C/2017 T1 (Heinze)

DEPARTED

Type: Hyperbolic Perihelion date: 21 February 2018 Perihelion distance (q): 0.6 Aphelion distance (Q) : n/a Period (years): n/a Eccentricity (e): 1.00 Inclination (i): 96.8 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve Aren (Ari) Heinze discovered an 18th magnitude comet in images taken with the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) 0.5m Schmidt at Mauna Loa, Hawaii on 28 September 2017. It had been posted on the PCCP as A104nX1. The comet passed around 0.2 au from Earth in January 2018. It has an Earth MOID of 0.014 au, so an associated meteor shower may be a possibility. Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 11-Oct-17 17.63 0.05 15.6 0.2 15-Nov-17 16.88 0.07 15.1 0.4 15-Dec-17 15.24 0.02 12.0 0.7 20-Dec-17 14.65 0.05 11.5 2.3 24-Dec-17 14.17 0.02 11.0 2.3 28-Dec-17 13.85 0.02 11.0 2.4 28-Dec-17 13.85 0.02 11.0 2.4 06-Jan-18 13.88 0.07 10.7 2.0