C/2006 W3 (Christensen)
Comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen) photographed near Mayhill, New Mexico on 25 June 2009 | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Eric J. Christensen |
| Discovery site | Catalina Sky Survey |
| Discovery date | 18 November 2006 |
| Orbital characteristics[2][3] | |
| Epoch | 11 March 2009 (JD 2454901.5) |
| Observation arc | 4.90 years (1,791 days) |
| Earliest precovery date | 29 October 2006 |
| Number of observations | 5,639 |
| Aphelion | ~5,300 AU (inbound) ~8,200 AU (outbound) |
| Perihelion | 3.126 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99982 |
| Orbital period | ~140,000 years (inbound) ~260,000 years (outbound) |
| Max. orbital speed | 23.8 km/s |
| Inclination | 127.07° |
| 113.57° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 133.51° |
| Last perihelion | 6 July 2009 |
| TJupiter | –1.321 |
| Earth MOID | 2.299 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.304 AU |
| Physical characteristics[4][5] | |
Mean radius | 13.0±2.0 km |
| 0.04 (assumed) | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 8.2 |
| 7.6 (2009 apparition) | |
C/2006 W3 (Christensen) is a non-periodic comet that was observed through telescopes between 2006 and 2011. It is one of several comets discovered by American astronomer, Eric J. Christensen.
Physical characteristics
Infrared observations from Herschel and Spitzer in 2009 allowed astronomers to estimate the size of C/2003 W3's nucleus. Initial estimates in 2010 revealed an effective radius of <26 km (16 mi),[6] however this value was later revised to 13±2 km in 2016, assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04.[5]
References
- ^ E. J. Christensen (20 November 2006). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen)". IAU Circular. 8777 (1). ISSN 0081-0304.
- ^ "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen) in epoch 1800 and 2200". JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 6 June 2025. (Solution using the Solar System's barycenter (Sun+Jupiter). Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
- ^ "C/2006 W3 (Christensen) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "Observation list for C/2006 W3". COBS – Comet OBServation database. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
- ^ a b P. P. Korsun; I. Kulyk; O. V. Ivanova; O. V. Zakhozhay; et al. (2016). "Optical spectrophotometric monitoring of comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen) before perihelion" (PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics. 596: 48–58. Bibcode:2016A&A...596A..48K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629046.
- ^ D. Bockelée-Morvan; P. Hartogh; J. Crovisier; B. Vandenbussche; B. M. Swinyard; et al. (2010). "A study of the distant activity of comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen) with Herschel and ground-based radio telescopes" (PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics. 518: 149–155. arXiv:1005.1592. Bibcode:2010A&A...518L.149B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201014655.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to C/2006 W3.
- C/2006 W3 at the JPL Small-Body Database
- C/2006 W3 (Christensen) at the Minor Planet Center
- C/2006 W3 (Christensen) at Seiichi Yoshida's website