266P/Christensen
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Eric J. Christensen |
| Discovery site | Catalina Sky Survey |
| Discovery date | 27 October 2006 |
| Designations | |
| P/2006 U5, P/2012 P1 | |
| Orbital characteristics[2][3] | |
| Epoch | 26 December 2026 (JD 2461400.5) |
| Observation arc | 18.93 years |
| Number of observations | 908 |
| Aphelion | 4.733 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.324 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.529 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.34133 |
| Orbital period | 6.628 years |
| Inclination | 3.429° |
| 4.941° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 97.951° |
| Mean anomaly | 2.763° |
| Last perihelion | 19 April 2020 |
| Next perihelion | 7 December 2026 |
| TJupiter | 3.020 |
| Earth MOID | 1.351 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.526 AU |
| Physical characteristics[2] | |
Mean radius | 1.66 km (1.03 mi)[4] |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 11.0 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 15.9 |
266P/Christensen is a Encke-type comet with a 6.63-year orbit around the Sun. It will next come to perihelion in December 2026. It has been suggested as the possible source of the 1977 "Wow! Signal",[5] however this was later disproven by a follow-up study in 2020, where it was found out to be likely a maser-like flare from small hydrogen clouds in interstellar space instead.[6]
Physical characteristics
[edit]Observations conducted by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in 2012 revealed that the nucleus of 266P has an upper limit no greater than 1.66 km (1.03 mi) in radius.[4]
References
[edit]- ↑ E. J. Christensen; G. Hug; G. Sostero; et al. (29 October 2006). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet C/2006 U5 (Christensen)". IAU Circular (8768). Bibcode:2006IAUC.8768....1C.
- 1 2 "266P/Christensen – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
- ↑ "266P/Christensen Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- 1 2 M. Solontoi; Ž. Ivezíc; M. Juríc (2012). "Ensemble properties of comets in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey". Icarus. 218 (1): 571–584. arXiv:1202.3999. Bibcode:2012Icar..218..571S. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.10.008.
- ↑ A. Paris; E. Davies (2015). "Hydrogen Clouds from Comets 266/P Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) are Candidates for the Source of the 1977 "WOW" Signal" (PDF). Washington Academy of Sciences. 101 (4): 25–32. arXiv:1706.04642. Bibcode:2017arXiv170604642P. JSTOR jwashacadscie.101.4.25.
- ↑ A. Méndez; K. O. Ceballos; J. I. Zuluaga (2020). "Arecibo Wow! I: An Astrophysical Explanation for the Wow! Signal". arXiv:2408.08513 [astro-ph.HE].
External links
[edit]- 266P/Christensen at the JPL Small-Body Database
- 266P/Christensen at Seiichi Yoshida's website
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