C/2021 A4 (NEOWISE)
DEPARTED
Type: Periodic
Perihelion date: 20 March 2021
Perihelion distance (q): 1.1
Aphelion distance (Q) : 87.5
Period (years): 295
Eccentricity (e): 0.97
Inclination (i): 111.6
JPL orbit diagram
COBS lightcurve
An approximately 20th magnitude comet was discovered from the NEOWISE satellite
on 3 January 2021. It was posted on the PCCP as N00htdm. The MPEC suggests
that it was reported by NEOWISE as being cometary, however the CBET suggests
that it was reported because of interesting motion and that ground-based observers
confirmed the cometary nature. There were prediscovery observations from
PanSTARRS on 3 January.
Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude)
Date
10x10 mag
Error
VEmag
Coma '
08-Feb-21
13.8
1.5
14-Feb-21
14.95
0.03
13.4
1.3