166P/NEAT

166P/NEAT
Discovery
Discovered byNEAT
Discovery dateOctober 15, 2001
Designations
P/2001 T4
Orbital characteristics
EpochMarch 6, 2006
Aphelion19.1 AU
Perihelion8.559 AU
Semi-major axis13.83 AU
Eccentricity0.3811
Orbital period51.43 a
Inclination15.3813°
Last perihelionMay 20, 2002[1]
Next perihelionNovember 26, 2053[2][3][4][5]
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
14.32 km (8.90 mi)[6]
  • (B–V) = 0.89±0.11[7]
  • (V–R) = 0.56±0.03[7]
  • (B–R) = 1.59±0.05[6]
Comet total
magnitude
(M1)
7.0
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)
10.6

166P/NEAT is a periodic comet and centaur in the outer Solar System. It was discovered by the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) project in 2001 and initially classified a comet with provisional designation P/2001 T4 (NEAT), as it was apparent from the discovery observations that the body exhibited a cometary coma. It is one of few known bodies with centaur-like orbits that display a coma, along with 60558 Echeclus, 2060 Chiron, 165P/LINEAR and 167P/CINEOS. It is also one of the reddest centaurs.[8]

166P/NEAT has a perihelion distance of 8.56 AU,[1] and is a Chiron-type comet with (TJupiter > 3; a > aJupiter).[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 166P/NEAT (2001 T4)" (2008-03-02 last obs). Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  2. ^ "166P/NEAT Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
  3. ^ Syuichi Nakano (2005-06-30). "166P/NEAT (2001 T4) (NK 1187)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  4. ^ Seiichi Yoshida (2005-11-09). "166P/NEAT". Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  5. ^ "Horizons Batch for 166P/NEAT on 2053-Nov-26" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2023-07-06. (JPL#51 Soln.date: 2021-Apr-15)
  6. ^ a b J. C. Shi; Y. H. Ma (2015). "CCD photometry of active Centaur 166P/2001 T4 (NEAT)" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 454 (4): 3635–3640. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.454.3635S. doi:10.1093/mnras/stv2274.
  7. ^ a b D. C. Jewitt (2015). "Color Systematics of Comets and Related Bodies". The Astronomical Journal. 150 (6): 201–219. arXiv:1510.07069. Bibcode:2015AJ....150..201J. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/6/201.
  8. ^ Bauer, James M.; Fernández, Yanga R. & Meech, Karen J. (2003). "An Optical Survey of the Active Centaur C/NEAT (2001 T4)". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 115 (810): 981–989. Bibcode:2003PASP..115..981B. doi:10.1086/377012.