Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 1, 2026

412P/WISE

412P/WISE is an Encke-type comet with a 5.5-year orbit around the Sun. It is the first of many comets discovered by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and has since been followed by ground observatories, among them the Mauna Kea Observatory.

Last revised
Aug 1, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
288 w
Citations
8
Source
412P/WISE
Discovery image of the comet (center) taken by WISE on 22 January 2010
Discovery1
Discovered byWISE
Discovery date22 January 2010
Designations
P/2010 B2, P/2020 Y1
Orbital characteristics23
Epoch17 December 2020 (JD 2459200.5)
Observation arc11.11 years
Number of
observations
74
Aphelion4.603 AU
Perihelion1.618 AU
Semi-major axis3.110 AU
Eccentricity0.47994
Orbital period5.485 years
Inclination8.931°
0.849°
Argument of
periapsis
155.92°
Mean anomaly2.088°
Last perihelion5 December 2020
Next perihelion30 May 2026
TJupiter3.013
Earth MOID0.625 AU
Jupiter MOID0.432 AU
Physical characteristics2
Mean radius
0.495 km (0.308 mi)4
Comet total
magnitude
(M1)
15.2
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)
19.1

412P/WISE is an Encke-type comet with a 5.5-year orbit around the Sun. It is the first of many comets discovered by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE),5 and has since been followed by ground observatories, among them the Mauna Kea Observatory.6

Orbit

The comet has an orbital period of 5.49 years, an aphelion of 4.6 AU (690 million km) and a perihelion of 1.62 AU (242 million km).7

References

References

  1. A. Mainzer; D. J. Tholen; A. Draginda; J. V. Scotti (February 2010). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet P/2010 B2 (WISE)". IAU Circular. 9115 (1). Bibcode:2010IAUC.9115....1M.
  2. "412P/WISE – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  3. "412P/WISE Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  4. J. M. Bauer; R. Stevenson; E. Kramer; et al. (2015). "The NEOWISE-Discovered Comet Population and the CO+CO
    2
    Production Rates"
    . The Astrophysical Journal. 814 (2): 85–109. arXiv:1509.08446. Bibcode:2015ApJ...814...85B. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/85.
  5. J. V. Scotti; A. Draginda; D. J. Tholen; et al. (8 February 2010). B. G. Marsden (ed.). "Comet P/2010 B2 (WISE)". Minor Planet Electronic Circulars. 2010-C23. Bibcode:2010MPEC....C...23S.
  6. E. Lakdawalla (8 February 2010). "WISE has found its first comet, P/2010 B2 (WISE)". The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  7. "Comet Discovered by New NASA Observatory". Space.com. 11 February 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
External links