C/2012 X1 (LINEAR)

DEPARTED

Type: Periodic Perihelion date: 21 February 2014 Perihelion distance (q): 1.6 Aphelion distance (Q) : 305 Period (years): 693,487 Eccentricity (e): 0.99 Inclination (i): 44.4 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve LINEAR discovered a 19th magnitude comet on 8 December 2012. On 20 October, Hidetaka Sato imaged the comet in outburst at 8.5, some 5 magnitudes brighter than expected. Richard Miles suggested that the outburst was similar to those seen in 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, in which case the expectation was an expanding coma becoming more diffuse, with a slow decline in brightness as the outer coma was lost to the background. Images (eg by Damian Peach on 11 January) suggested that it became a very normal looking object, and stayed at 8th magnitude for several months. After perihelion it showed a perfectly ordinary light curve, remaining steady in brightness into late April, then gradually fading more quickly. Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 09-Mar-14 11.50 0.01 8.1 2.3 13-Mar-14 11.50 0.03 8.2 2.4 16-Mar-14 11.57 0.01 8.2 2.4 19-Mar-14 11.52 0.03 8.3 2.3 21-Mar-14 11.49 0.01 8.1 2.2 23-Mar-14 11.46 0.02 8.2 3.0 28-Mar-14 11.40 0.05 8.2 2.6 30-Mar-14 11.50 0.01 8.2 2.9 03-Apr-14 11.53 0.02 8.3 3.5 14-Apr-14 11.60 0.03 8.4 2.4 16-Apr-14 11.65 0.02 8.4 2.0 18-Apr-14 11.63 0.04 8.4 2.2 24-Apr-14 11.70 0.02 8.3 1.0 26-Apr-14 11.66 0.01 8.4 2.3 29-Apr-14 11.83 0.01 8.6 1.6 02-May-14 11.76 0.02 8.5 2.0 06-May-14 11.85 0.03 8.4 0.3 14-May-14 11.97 0.03 8.7 1.1 16-May-14 12.07 0.00 8.6 2.1 24-May-14 12.15 0.02 8.9 4.2 26-May-14 12.41 0.15 9.2 2.2 29-May-14 12.23 0.01 9.0 3.3 05-Jun-14 12.29 0.01 8.8 3.3 08-Jun-14 12.40 0.01 8.9 2.7 10-Jun-14 12.40 0.02 9.2 2.4 19-Jun-14 12.47 0.01 9.0 2.2 25-Jun-14 12.53 0.02 9.1 2.3 28-Jun-14 12.62 0.01 9.5 2.6 02-Jul-14 12.61 0.01 9.4 2.3 06-Jul-14 12.75 0.01 9.2 1.9 10-Jul-14 12.76 0.01 9.3 2.2 16-Jul-14 12.88 0.02 9.4 2.2 18-Jul-14 12.81 0.03 9.5 2.3 21-Jul-14 12.73 0.01 9.4 2.2 30-Jul-14 13.21 0.02 10.1 2.2 03-Aug-14 13.17 0.01 9.9 2.1 05-Aug-14 13.36 0.01 10.0 1.5 07-Aug-14 13.39 0.01 9.8 1.3 13-Aug-14 13.65 0.01 10.5 2.1 17-Aug-14 13.51 0.01 9.9 2.1 20-Aug-14 13.58 0.01 10.3 1.8 22-Aug-14 13.81 0.02 10.7 1.4 24-Aug-14 13.86 0.02 10.6 1.4 26-Aug-14 13.89 0.02 10.4 1.2 28-Aug-14 13.97 0.01 10.7 1.2 30-Aug-14 14.03 0.01 10.5 1.1 01-Sep-14 13.77 0.03 11.1 0.9 11-Sep-14 14.49 0.03 10.8 1.1 13-Sep-14 14.60 0.02 11.6 1.0 17-Sep-14 14.68 0.03 11.5 1.2 20-Sep-14 14.93 0.02 11.7 1.5 25-Sep-14 15.02 0.01 11.9 1.2 28-Sep-14 15.25 0.01 12.2 1.1 01-Oct-14 15.29 0.02 11.7 0.9 06-Oct-14 15.31 0.01 11.6 0.5 09-Oct-14 15.43 0.02 11.9 0.7 13-Oct-14 15.60 0.03 12.2 0.6 16-Oct-14 15.45 0.03 12.0 0.8 19-Oct-14 15.56 0.02 12.1 0.9 22-Oct-14 15.51 0.03 12.3 0.5 25-Oct-14 15.60 0.04 12.1 0.6 28-Oct-14 15.68 0.02 12.4 0.5 01-Nov-14 15.60 0.03 11.6 0.3 07-Nov-14 15.80 0.03 11.5 0.3 10-Nov-14 15.58 0.03 12.1 0.5 16-Nov-14 15.62 0.02 12.8 0.6 19-Nov-14 15.76 0.04 12.0 0.5 22-Nov-14 15.75 0.03 11.7 0.3 25-Nov-14 16.02 0.04 12.4 0.3 28-Nov-14 15.92 0.02 12.6 0.2 01-Dec-14 15.97 0.02 12.4 0.3 04-Dec-14 16.15 0.04 13.2 0.2 07-Dec-14 16.12 0.07 12.1 0.3 11-Dec-14 16.31 0.03 13.0 0.3 14-Dec-14 16.21 0.09 12.9 0.4 17-Dec-14 16.17 0.05 13.2 0.4 20-Dec-14 16.23 0.04 12.7 0.3 29-Dec-14 16.26 0.03 13.0 0.2 14-Jan-15 16.62 0.04 13.3 0.2 12-Oct-15 19.25 0.03 16.3 0.2