252P/LINEAR

252P/LINEAR
Sequence of images shows Comet 252P/LINEAR near Earth.[1]
Discovery
Discovered byLincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR)
Discovery date2000/04/07
Orbital characteristics
Epoch2015-Aug-01 (JD 2457235.5)
Observation arc16 years
Aphelion5.1079 AU
Perihelion0.9961 AU
Semi-major axis3.0520 AU
Eccentricity0.6736
Orbital period5.33 years (1947 days)
Inclination10.4046°
Last perihelion2021/07/11[2]
2016/03/15
2010/11/13
Next perihelion2026-Nov-07[3]
TJupiter2.8
Earth MOID0.0138 AU (2,060,000 km)
Jupiter MOID0.1973 AU (29,520,000 km)[4]
Physical characteristics
Dimensions100-400 meters
Comet total
magnitude
(M1)
18.9 ± 1
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)
22.7 ± 0.9

Comet 252P/LINEAR is a periodic comet and near-Earth object discovered by the LINEAR survey on April 7, 2000. The comet is a Jupiter family comet, meaning that it passes quite close to the orbit of Jupiter.[4]

At some point, 252P/LINEAR separated from a second object designated P/2016 BA14 (PANSTARRS), that was discovered in January 2016.[5][6] The nucleus of P/2016 BA14 is 1,000 meters wide, which is larger than the nucleus of 252P, which is estimated to be 600 meters across, but it is less active.[7] 252P/LINEAR approached as close as 0.0356 AU (13.9 LD) to Earth on 21 March 2016.[8]

  1. ^ "Comet 252P/LINEAR". Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Horizons2026 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. ^ JPL SBDB: 2016BA14
  6. ^ Agle, DC; Brown, Dwayne; Cantillo, Laurie (18 March 2016). "A 'Tail' of Two Comets". NASA. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  7. ^ Li, Jian-Yang; Kelley, Michael S. P.; Samarasinha, Nalin H.; Farnocchia, Davide; Mutchler, Max J.; Ren, Yanqiong; Lu, Xiaoping; Tholen, David J.; Lister, Tim; Micheli, Marco (7 September 2017). "The Unusual Apparition of Comet 252P/2000 G1 (LINEAR) and Comparison with Comet P/2016 BA 14 (PanSTARRS)". The Astronomical Journal. 154 (4): 136. arXiv:1708.05190. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa86ae.
  8. ^ "NEO Earth Close Approaches". Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.