C/2017 T3 (ATLAS)

DEPARTED

Type: Periodic Perihelion date: 19 July 2018 Perihelion distance (q): 0.8 Aphelion distance (Q) : 2,688 Period (years): 49,284 Eccentricity (e): 1.00 Inclination (i): 88.1 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve An 18th magnitude comet was discovered in images taken with the 0.5m Schmidt at Haleakala on 14 October 2017 by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) team. There were pre-discovery PanSTARRS images from 11 September. It had been posted on the PCCP as A104VfJ. Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 23-Nov-17 17.95 0.09 17.7 0.2 24-Dec-17 17.49 0.01 16.9 0.3 21-Jan-18 17.10 0.02 16.6 0.3 14-Feb-18 16.63 0.05 15.5 0.5