C/2016 R2 (PanSTARRS)
C/2016 R2 (PanSTARRS) is a comet, discovered using the Pan-STARRS telescopes on September 7, 2016. The comet attracted attention from many astronomers as it approached its closest point to the sun in May 2018. It has been observed to have a very complex tail, which has been suggested to be due to a fast rotation period of the nucleus.
The comet on 16 January 2018 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Pan-STARRS |
| Discovery site | Haleakala Obs. |
| Discovery date | 30 August 2016 |
| Designations | |
MPC designation | C/2016 R2 |
Minor planet category | comet |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 13 October 2018 | |
| Observation arc | 774 days |
| Perihelion | 2.60235 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99646 |
Mean anomaly | 359.9932° |
| Inclination | 58.222° |
Longitude of ascending node | 80.5685° |
| 33.1930° | |
| Earth MOID | 1.72 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 8 | |
The comet orbits the Sun on a 20,000 year orbit, which takes it out about 740 AU (Sun-Earth distances). It was found to differ from typical comets, and was found to be rich in Carbon monoxide (CO) with a blue coma. The blue color is thought to come from the rich amounts of carbon monoxide being ionized. The comet was also noted to be rich in nitrogen.
The comet was observed by a submillimeter wavelength telescope in the late 2010s.
The comet made its closest approach to the Sun in May 2018, and its blue, teal, and dust tail were noted as an astronomical target. Blue comets are a less common type of comet.