| Discovery12 | |
|---|---|
| Discovery site | LINEAR (704) |
| Discovery date | 4 May 2011 |
| Designations | |
| CK11J020 | |
| Orbital characteristics34 | |
| Epoch | 22 January 2014 (JD 2456679.5) |
| Observation arc | 6.52 years |
| Earliest precovery date | 10 March 2011 |
| Number of observations | 6,434 |
| Orbit type | Oort cloud |
| Aphelion | ~49,940 AU (inbound) |
| Perihelion | 3.443 AU |
| Semi-major axis | ~25,000 AU (inbound) |
| Eccentricity | 0.99986 (inbound) 1.00004 (outbound) |
| Orbital period | 3.95 million years (inbound) |
| Inclination | 122.80° |
| 163.95° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 85.296° |
| Last perihelion | 25 December 2013 |
| TJupiter | -1.258 |
| Earth MOID | 3.004 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.551 AU |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 7.7 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 10.3 |
C/2011 J2 (LINEAR) is an Oort cloud comet discovered on 4 May 2011 by LINEAR at an apparent magnitude of 19.7 using a 1 m (39 in) reflecting telescope.12 The comet reached an apparent magnitude 17.0 on September 2014.5
Observational history
C/2011 J2 came to perihelion on 25 December 2013 at a distance of 3.4 AU (510 million km) from the Sun.5 On 27 August 2014 an 18th magnitude fragment CK11J02b was detected.5 Preliminary estimates are that a fragmentation event occurred around 14 July 2014 plus/minus ten days.6 In mid-July 2014 the comet was 3.9 AU (580 million km) from the Sun.
Fragment C was detected in October 2014 by Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes, and Martino Nicolini.7
C/2011 J2 is dynamically new. It came from the Oort cloud with a loosely bound chaotic orbit that was easily perturbed by galactic tides and passing stars. Before entering the planetary region (epoch 1800), C/2011 J2 had an orbital period of several million years.3 After leaving the planetary region (epoch 2200), it will be on an ejection trajectory.3
References
References
- G. V. Williams (7 May 2011). "MPEC 2011-J31: Comet C/2011 J2 (LINEAR)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- G. Sostero; E. Guido (12 July 2011). "New Comet: C/2011 J2 (LINEAR)". remanzacco.blogspot.com. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/2011 J2 (LINEAR)". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- "C/2011 J2 (LINEAR) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
- G. V. Williams (7 May 2011). "MPEC 2014-R69: Observations and Orbits of Comets". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- "Re: {MPML} C/2011 J2 LINEAR Nucleus splitting". 17 September 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- E. Guido; N. Howes; M. Nicolini (13 October 2011). "New fragmentation event in C/2011 J2 (LINEAR)". remanzacco.blogspot.com. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
External links
External links
- C/2011 J2 at the JPL Small-Body Database
- C/2011 J2 ( LINEAR ) – Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog
- C/2011 J2 Linear: nucleus splitting (Virtual Telescope 19 September 2014)
- Comet C/2011 J2 in the process of fragmenting as seen on 2 September 2014
- Comet C/2011 J2 Linear splitting: a new image (24 Sept. 2014) (Virtual Telescope 25 September 2014)
- Follow-up of splitting event in Comet C/2011 J2 (Remanzacco 1 October 2014)