C/2002 X5 (Kudo–Fujikawa)
Non-periodic comet From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Comet Kudo–Fujikawa, formally designated as C/2002 X5, is a non-periodic comet that was visible through binoculars on January 2003. It was discovered by two Japanese astronomers, Tetuo Kudo and Shigehisa Fujikawa.
| Discovery[1][2] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Tetuo Kudo Shigehisa Fujikawa |
| Discovery site | Japan |
| Discovery date | 13–14 December 2002 |
| Designations | |
| CK02X050[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch | 20 January 2003 (JD 2452659.5) |
| Observation arc | 129 days |
| Earliest precovery date | 6 November 2002 |
| Number of observations | 514 |
| Aphelion | ~2,390 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.189 AU |
| Semi-major axis | ~1,200 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99984 |
| Orbital period | ~41,200 years |
| Inclination | 94.152° |
| 119.07° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 187.58° |
| Mean anomaly | 359.99° |
| Last perihelion | 29 January 2003 |
| TJupiter | –0.035 |
| Earth MOID | 0.741 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.343 AU |
| Physical characteristics[5][6] | |
| Dimensions | 3.4–4.0 km (2.1–2.5 mi) |
Mean diameter | 2.2 km (1.4 mi) |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 10.6 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 14.9 |
| 4.2 (2003 apparition) | |
Discovery and observations
Tetuo Kudo was the first person to spot the comet when he located it using a pair of 20x135 binoculars on 13 December 2002.[1] The following day, Shigehisa Fujikawa made his independent discovery a day later, marking his sixth overall comet discovery since 1969.[2] At the time of its discovery, the comet was a 9th-magnitude object within the constellation Böotes.[7] Since then, Terry Lovejoy found precovery images that were taken by the SWAN instrument aboard the SOHO spacecraft between 6 and 13 November 2002.[7]
Brian G. Marsden provided the first orbital calculations for the comet on 15 December 2002, where it was initially predicted to reach perihelion on 24 January 2003.[3] Its perihelion date was later revised to 29 January.[8] Between 25 January and 1 February 2003, the comet is within view of the LASCO C3 camera aboard the SOHO spacecraft,[9] allowing measurements of its C2/CN compound ratio emitted to be conducted.[10]
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.