C/2014 OG392 (PanSTARRS)
C/2014 OG392 with its coma imaged by the Lowell Discovery Telescope on 14 October 2020
Discovery
Discovered byPan-STARRS
Discovery date28 July 2014
Orbital characteristics
Epoch2020-12-17 (2459200.5)
Orbit typeCentaur / Chiron-type
Aphelion14.463 AU
Perihelion9.9697 AU (near Saturn's distance)
Semi-major axis12.216 AU
Eccentricity0.18389
Orbital period42.7 yr
Inclination9.0333°
Last perihelion29 July 1979[1]
Next perihelion29 November 2021[1]
TJupiter3.4
Earth MOID8.99 AU (1.345 billion km)
Jupiter MOID5.08 AU (760 million km)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions20 km (albedo=0.1)[2]
Absolute magnitude:
H=10.8 (MPC)
H=11.3 (corrected)[2]

C/2014 OG392 (PanSTARRS) is a comet discovered as a centaur on 28 July 2014 when it was 11.5 AU (1.72 billion km) from the Sun and had an apparent magnitude of 21.[3] The comet was relatively easier to detect at this distance because the nucleus is estimated to be 20 km in diameter.[2]

DECam images from 2017 of the comet at 10.6 AU (1.59 billion km) from the Sun showed activity likely produced by carbon dioxide (CO2) and/or ammonia (NH3) sublimation (off-gassing).[2]

Clones of the orbit of C/2014 OG392 estimate a dynamic lifetime (amount of time in the current orbit) of 13 thousand to a million years.[2]

Perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) takes place not far from Saturn's orbit with a Saturn minimum orbit intersection distance of 0.9 AU (130 million km);[4] for example on 29 September 2231 at about 0.934 AU (139.7 million km) ±1 million km from Saturn.[5]

C/2014 OG392 will come to opposition on 1 November 2021 in the constellation of Cetus when it will have a solar elongation of 170 degrees. Numerical integration shows the comet last came to perihelion in late July 1979 and will next come to perihelion on 29 November 2021.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 JPL Horizons Observer Location: @sun (Perihelion occurs when deldot changes from negative to positive.)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Chandler, Colin; Kueny, Jay; Trujillo, Chad; Trilling, David; Oldroyd, William (2020). "Cometary Activity Discovered on a Distant Centaur: A Nonaqueous Sublimation Mechanism". The Astrophysical Journal. 892 (2): L38. arXiv:2003.04904. Bibcode:2020ApJ...892L..38C. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ab7dc6. S2CID 212657575.
  3. ↑ "MPEC 2020-U241 : COMET C/2014 OG392 (PANSTARRS)". IAU Minor Planet Center. 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-01-15. (CK14Od2G)
  4. ↑ "2014 OG392 (PANSTARRS)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  5. ↑ JPL Horizons Observer Location: @699 Table Settings: 20,39 (Uncertainty is 3-sigma.)
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