C/2019 U6 (Lemmon)

DEPARTED

Type: Periodic Perihelion date: 18 June 2020 Perihelion distance (q): 0.9 Aphelion distance (Q) : 820 Period (years): 8,318 Eccentricity (e): 1.00 Inclination (i): 61.0 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve The Mt Lemmon Survey discovered an object of 21st magnitude in images taken with the 1.5m reflector on 31 October 2019. It was placed on the PCCP as C1CKPL2. Several observers subsequently reported that they had detected a cometary appearance in images. Michael Mattiazzo imaged it on 11 March, when it showed a clear coma. It was reclassified as a comet following the reports made since December. The object was at perihelion at 0.9 au in June 2020 and has a parabolic orbit. It brightened quite rapidly and reached 6th magnitude around perihelion in June, but began fading sooner than expected from a standard light curve. A linear light curve is a better fit to the observations. Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 18-Sep-20 13.5 1.5 10-Oct-20 17.18 0.02 14.0 1.5