C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), or Comet NEOWISE, is a retrograde comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered on March 27, 2020 by the NEOWISE space telescope.[2] It will pass closest to the sun on July 3, 2020. As of 10 June 2020 it was magnitude 7,[3] and if it survives perihelion 0.29 AU (43 million km; 110 LD) from the Sun, it is expected to be visible to the naked eye in July.[2] When the comet entered the field of view of SOHO LASCO C3 on 22 June 2020 the comet had brightened to magnitude 3.[4] The comet will be less than 20 degrees from the Sun from 11 June 2020 until 9 July 2020. Closest approach to Earth will occur 23 July 2020 at a distance of 0.69 AU (103 million km; 270 LD).

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)
C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) orbit on April 19, 2020
Discovery
Discovered byNEOWISE
Discovery dateMarch 27, 2020
Orbital characteristics A
Epoch2458953.5 (April 14, 2020)
Observation arc70 days
Number of
observations		353
Aphelion544 AU (inbound)
720 AU (outbound)
Perihelion0.29478 AU
Semi-major axis272 AU (inbound)
360 AU (outbound)
Eccentricity0.99921
Orbital period~4500 yrs (inbound)[1]
~6800 yrs (outbound)
Inclination128.93°
Node61.01°
Argument of
periapsis		37.28°
TJupiter-0.408
Earth MOID0.36 AU (54 million km; 140 LD)
Jupiter MOID0.81 AU (121 million km; 320 LD)
Next perihelionJuly 3, 2020

This perihelion passage will increase the comets orbital period from about 4500 years to about 6800 years.[1]

References
  1. JPL Horizons barycentric solution for epoch 1950 (before entering planetary region)
    Goto JPL Horizons
    Ephemeris Type: Orbital Elements
    Center: @0 (Solar System Barycenter)
    Time Span: 1950-01-01 to 2050-01-01 and Step Size: 100 years
    1950-Jan-01 is "PR= 1.63E+06 / 365.25 days" = 4462 years
  2. Seiichi Yoshida. "C/2020 F3 ( NEOWISE )". Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. "Comet Observation database (COBS)". Retrieved May 27, 2020. "C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) plot"
  4. SOHO LASCO C3 – Michal Kusiak
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