P/2023 S1 (PANSTARRS)

Type: Periodic Perihelion date: 22 February 2025 Perihelion distance (q): 2.6 Aphelion distance (Q) : 5.1 Period (years): 7.6 Eccentricity (e): 0.32 Inclination (i): 9.2 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve PanSTARRS 2 discovered a 20th magnitude comet in images taken with the 1.8 m Ritchey-Chretien on 20 September 2023. There were pre-discovery images from earlier in the month. The preliminary orbit suggests that the comet passed only 0.0017au from Jupiter around 8 June 2021. Prior to this encounter the comet was in a more distant orbit with perihelion at 5.0 au and a period of 26 years. Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 17-Oct-23 20.0 0.4 24-Oct-23 18.9 0.4 13-Nov-23 18.8 0.4