C/2015 V2 (Johnson)

C/2015 V2 (Johnson)
C/2015 V2 (Johnson) on 2017, 3 April
Discovery[1]
Discovered byJ. A. Johnson
Catalina Sky Survey (703)
Discovery date3 November 2015[1]
Orbital characteristics[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Epoch10 February 2016
Observation arc19 days
Number of
observations		279
Perihelion1.63714AU[2]
Eccentricity1.00145[3]
Orbital period14.4 Myr (incoming)
Inclination49.87499°[3]
Next perihelion12 June 2017[3]

C/2015 V2 (Johnson) is a hyperbolic comet discovered on 3 November 2015 by Jess Johnson (Catalina Sky Survey) at an apparent magnitude of 17.1 using a 0.68-meter (27 in) Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope.[1][2][3][4][5] Its incoming orbit had a Semimajor Axis of 59,200 AU (0.94 light years), but will have a hyperbolic orbit after leaving the solar system, with an eccentricity of 1.0009. The comet was expected to be able to be seen with binoculars in late May 2017 in the Northern Hemisphere,[7] with a magnitude of 6 to 7, but the comet was fainter than predicted,[8] reaching a magnitude of 7.1 on June 21.[9]

The comet was characterised by its very low activity, resembling a manx comet. The comet showed no emission from C2, C3 and CN, which are part of the typical spectrum of comet, when it was 2,83 AU from the Sun, but they were detected when the comet reached 2,3 AU from the Sun.[10] The comet was observed by the SWAN instrument onboard SOHO and determined its water production near perihelion was 1029/s. Infrared spectroscopic observations indicated that the rotational temperature of the comet was warmer than predicted, indicating the presence of an icy grainy halo.[11] The absolute nuclear magnitude was estimated to be 16.127 ± 0.176, indicating that the effective radius of the comet was 1,7 ± 0,138 km.[12] The comet exhibited fan-shaped fine jets in the direction opposite of the Sun when imaged using polarimetry.[13]

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference MPEC 2015-V44 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference MPEC 2015-V62 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference MPEC 2015-W63 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference MPEC 2015-W09 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPCOODB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Komet Johnson zieht über den Mai-Himmel".
  8. ^ "Weekly Information about Bright Comets (2017 July 1: North)". www.aerith.net. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Weekly Information about Bright Comets (2017 Aug. 12: North)". www.aerith.net. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  10. ^ Kumar, V.; Ganesh, S. (2018). "Results from two unusual comets C/2016 R2 (Pan-STARRS) and C/2015 V2 (Johnson)" (PDF). EPSC Abstracts Vol. 12, European Planetary Science Congress: 1220. Bibcode:2018EPSC...12.1220V.
  11. ^ Combi, M.R.; Shou, Y.; Mäkinen, T.; Bertaux, J.-L.; Quémerais, E.; Ferron, S.; Coronel, R. (September 2021). "Water production rates from SOHO/SWAN observations of six comets: 2017–2020". Icarus. 365: 114509. arXiv:2105.06565. Bibcode:2021Icar..36514509C. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114509. S2CID 234679279.
  12. ^ Paradowski, Mieczyslaw Leszek (1 March 2020). "A new method of determining brightness and size of cometary nuclei". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 492 (3): 4175–4188. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz3597.
  13. ^ Mazarbhuiya, A. M.; Das, H. S.; Medhi, B. J.; Halder, P.; Deb Roy, P. (September 2022). "Study of dust coma of comets 32P/Comas Sola and C/2015 V2 (Johnson) by imaging polarimetry". Astrophysics and Space Science. 367 (9): 98. Bibcode:2022Ap&SS.367...98M. doi:10.1007/s10509-022-04133-7. S2CID 252600934.