* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Comet 162P/Siding Spring

Blobrana · L

Comet 162P/Siding Spring makes its closest approach to the Earth (1.690 AU) in the constellation Auriga on the 15th August 2015

Ephemeris

Date    TT    R. A. (2000) Decl.     Delta      r    Elong.  Phase   Mag
2015 08 14    06 05 37.8 +32 14 15   1.6896  1.2977    50.1    36.8  14.3
2015 08 15    06 09 21.6 +32 31 13   1.6896  1.3012    50.3    36.8  14.3
2015 08 16    06 13 05.5 +32 47 48   1.6896  1.3049    50.5    36.8  14.3
2015 08 17    06 16 49.7 +33 04 01   1.6897  1.3086    50.7    36.8  14.3
2015 08 18    06 20 34.1 +33 19 51   1.6897  1.3125    50.9    36.8  14.3
2015 08 19    06 24 18.7 +33 35 18   1.6898  1.3164    51.1    36.8  14.3
2015 08 20    06 28 03.3 +33 50 23   1.6900  1.3204    51.3    36.8  14.3
2015 08 21    06 31 48.0 +34 05 05   1.6901  1.3245    51.6    36.8  14.4
2015 08 22    06 35 32.7 +34 19 24   1.6903  1.3286    51.8    36.7  14.4
2015 08 23    06 39 17.4 +34 33 21   1.6905  1.3329    52.0    36.7  14.4
2015 08 24    06 43 02.0 +34 46 55   1.6907  1.3372    52.3    36.7  14.4
2015 08 25    06 46 46.6 +35 00 07   1.6910  1.3417    52.5    36.7  14.4
2015 08 26    06 50 30.9 +35 12 57   1.6913  1.3461    52.7    36.7  14.4
2015 08 27    06 54 15.1 +35 25 25   1.6916  1.3507    53.0    36.7  14.4
2015 08 28    06 57 59.1 +35 37 31   1.6919  1.3554    53.2    36.7  14.5
2015 08 29    07 01 42.7 +35 49 15   1.6922  1.3601    53.5    36.6  14.5
2015 08 30    07 05 26.1 +36 00 38   1.6925  1.3649    53.7    36.6  14.5
2015 08 31    07 09 09.1 +36 11 39   1.6929  1.3697    54.0    36.6  14.5

Blobrana · L

Comet 162P/Siding Spring is at Perihelion (1.237 AU) in the constellation Taurus on the 12th July 2015

Ephemeris

Date    TT    R. A. (2000) Decl.     Delta      r    Elong.  Phase   Mag
2015 07 10    04 01 31.7 +18 48 30   1.7224  1.2376    45.2    35.6  14.1
2015 07 11    04 04 51.2 +19 16 11   1.7204  1.2374    45.3    35.7  14.1
2015 07 12    04 08 11.4 +19 43 41   1.7184  1.2374    45.4    35.8  14.1
2015 07 13    04 11 32.5 +20 10 58   1.7165  1.2374    45.4    35.8  14.1
2015 07 14    04 14 54.5 +20 38 02   1.7147  1.2376    45.5    35.9  14.1
2015 07 15    04 18 17.3 +21 04 53   1.7130  1.2379    45.6    35.9  14.1
2015 07 16    04 21 41.0 +21 31 30   1.7113  1.2383    45.7    36.0  14.1
2015 07 17    04 25 05.4 +21 57 52   1.7097  1.2388    45.8    36.1  14.1
2015 07 18    04 28 30.8 +22 24 00   1.7082  1.2394    45.9    36.1  14.1
2015 07 19    04 31 56.9 +22 49 53   1.7067  1.2402    46.0    36.2  14.1
2015 07 20    04 35 23.9 +23 15 30   1.7053  1.2410    46.2    36.2  14.1
2015 07 21    04 38 51.7 +23 40 51   1.7040  1.2420    46.3    36.2  14.1
2015 07 22    04 42 20.4 +24 05 56   1.7027  1.2431    46.4    36.3  14.1
2015 07 23    04 45 49.8 +24 30 44   1.7015  1.2443    46.5    36.3  14.1
2015 07 24    04 49 20.1 +24 55 14   1.7004  1.2456    46.6    36.4  14.1
2015 07 25    04 52 51.1 +25 19 27   1.6993  1.2470    46.8    36.4  14.1
2015 07 26    04 56 23.0 +25 43 23   1.6984  1.2485    46.9    36.4  14.1
2015 07 27    04 59 55.6 +26 06 59   1.6974  1.2502    47.0    36.5  14.1
2015 07 28    05 03 29.1 +26 30 18   1.6965  1.2519    47.2    36.5  14.1
2015 07 29    05 07 03.2 +26 53 17   1.6957  1.2538    47.3    36.5  14.1
2015 07 30    05 10 38.2 +27 15 57   1.6950  1.2558    47.5    36.6  14.1
2015 07 31    05 14 13.8 +27 38 17   1.6943  1.2578    47.6    36.6  14.1

Blobrana · L

Comet 162P/Siding Spring is at Opposition (2.680 AU) on the 24th May 2014

Ephemeris

Date    TT    R. A. (2000) Decl.     Delta      r     Elong.  Phase   Mag
2014 05 23    15 51 13.4 -42 32 16   2.6855  3.6435   157.9     6.0  19.8
2014 05 24    15 49 55.0 -42 33 21   2.6803  3.6388   158.0     6.0  19.8
2014 05 25    15 48 36.2 -42 34 15   2.6753  3.6341   158.0     6.0  19.7
2014 05 26    15 47 17.3 -42 34 58   2.6707  3.6295   157.9     6.0  19.7
2014 05 27    15 45 58.3 -42 35 30   2.6664  3.6248   157.8     6.1  19.7
2014 05 28    15 44 39.2 -42 35 50   2.6623  3.6201   157.6     6.1  19.7
2014 05 29    15 43 20.2 -42 35 59   2.6586  3.6154   157.4     6.2  19.7
2014 05 30    15 42 01.3 -42 35 57   2.6551  3.6107   157.1     6.3  19.7
2014 05 31    15 40 42.5 -42 35 44   2.6519  3.6059   156.8     6.4  19.7

Blobrana · L

Comet 162P/Siding Spring is at Opposition (3.764 AU) on the 27th April, 2013

Ephemeris

Date    TT    R. A. (2000) Decl.     Delta      r     Elong.  Phase   Mag
2013 04 26    14 14 14.0 -17 28 11   3.7653  4.7695   176.0     0.9
2013 04 27    14 13 25.5 -17 26 26   3.7636  4.7683   176.2     0.8
2013 04 28    14 12 37.0 -17 24 38   3.7621  4.7670   176.1     0.8
2013 04 29    14 11 48.5 -17 22 50   3.7610  4.7657   175.6     0.9
2013 04 30    14 11 00.1 -17 20 59   3.7603  4.7644   174.9     1.1

Blobrana · L

Title: Comet 162P/Siding Spring: A Surprisingly Large Nucleus
Authors: Y. R. Fernandez, H. Campins, M. Kassis, C. W. Hergenrother, R. P. Binzel, J. Licandro, J. L. Hora, J. D. Adams

Researchers present an analysis of thermal emission from comet 162P/Siding Spring (P/2004 TU12) measured during its discovery apparition in 2004 December. The comet showed no dust coma at this time, so they have sampled emission from the comet's nucleus. Observations using the Mid-Infrared Spectrometer and Imager (MIRSI) were performed at NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility, where the peak of the comet's spectral energy distribution was observed between 8 and 25 microns.
In combination with the three near-IR spectra presented by Campins et al. (2006, Astron. J. 132, 1346) that show the Wien-law tail of the thermal emission, the data provide powerful constraints on surface properties of the nucleus.
The researchers find that the nucleus's effective radius is 6.0 ±0.8 km. This is one of the largest radii known among Jupiter-family comets, which is unusual considering that the comet was discovered only recently. Its geometric albedo is 0.059 ±0.023 in the H band, 0.037 ±0.014 in the R band, and 0.034 ±0.013 in the V band. They also find that the nucleus of 162P has little IR beaming, and this implies that the nucleus has low thermal inertia. Including all near-IR spectra yields a beaming parameter of 1.01+/-0.20. This result is in agreement with others showing that cometary nuclei have low thermal inertia and little IR beaming. If confirmed for many nuclei, the interpretation of radiometry may not be as problematic as feared.

Read more (326kb, PDF)