Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Carl W. Hergenrother |
Discovery date | November 22, 1998 |
Designations | |
P/1998 W2 P/2005 N2 | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch | March 6, 2006 |
Aphelion | 5.839 AU |
Perihelion | 1.426 AU |
Semi-major axis | 3.632 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.6075 |
Orbital period | 6.923 a |
Inclination | 21.8934° |
Last perihelion | August 5, 2019
[1]
[2] October 1, 2012 [3] November 2, 2005 |
Next perihelion | 2026-May-18 [1] |
Earth MOID | 0.4 AU (60 million km) |
168P/Hergenrother is a periodic comet in the Solar System. The comet originally named P/1998 W2 returned in 2005 and got the temporary name P/2005 N2. [4] The comet was last observed in January 2020, [1] and may have continued fragmenting after the 2012 outburst.
The comet came to perihelion on October 1, 2012, [3] and was expected to reach about apparent magnitude 15.2, but due to an outburst the comet reached apparent magnitude 8. [5] As a result of the outburst of gas and dust, the comet was briefly more than 500 times brighter than it would have been without the outburst. [6] On October 19, 2012, images by the Virtual Telescope Project showed a dust cloud trailing the nucleus. [7] Images by the 2 m (79 in) Faulkes Telescope North on October 26, 2012, confirm a fragmentation event. [8] The secondary fragment was about magnitude 17. Further observations by the 8.1 m (320 in) Gemini telescope show that the comet fragmented into at least four parts. [9]
168P came to perihelion on August 5, 2019, [1] when it was 76 degrees from the Sun. It then made a closest approach to Earth on 6 November 6, 2019, when it was 1 AU (150 million km) from Earth with a solar elongation of about 110 degrees. It was not recovered until January 3, 2020, when it was 141 degrees from the Sun, but only two observations on a single night were reported.