C/2010 S1 (LINEAR)

DEPARTED

Type: Hyperbolic Perihelion date: 20 May 2013 Perihelion distance (q): 5.9 Aphelion distance (Q) : n/a Period (years): n/a Eccentricity (e): 1.00 Inclination (i): 125.3 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve An apparently asteroidal object of around 18th magnitude discovered by LINEAR on 21 September 2010 was found to have a bright coma with a tail in follow-up observations. The comet reached perihelion at 5.9 AU in May 2013. Calculations by Hirohisa Sato had suggested an elliptical orbit with a period of over 4000 years and perihelion at 5.9 AU in 2013 May. Visual observations between 2011 August and 2013 October suggest that it reached a peak of just over 13th magnitude and brightened quite quickly for such a distant comet. Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 29-May-14 15.57 0.01 12.8 0.4 09-Jun-14 15.59 0.03 12.7 0.3 19-Jun-14 15.60 0.02 12.5 0.6 20-Aug-14 16.31 0.02 13.2 0.5