![]() Sequence of images shows Comet 252P/LINEAR near Earth.[1] | |
Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) |
Discovery date | 2000/04/07 |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch | 2015-Aug-01 (JD 2457235.5) |
Observation arc | 16 years |
Aphelion | 5.1079 AU |
Perihelion | 0.9961 AU |
Semi-major axis | 3.0520 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.6736 |
Orbital period | 5.33 years (1947 days) |
Inclination | 10.4046° |
Last perihelion | 2021/07/11[2] 2016/03/15 2010/11/13 |
Next perihelion | 2026-Nov-07[3] |
TJupiter | 2.8 |
Earth MOID | 0.0138 AU (2,060,000 km) |
Jupiter MOID | 0.1973 AU (29,520,000 km)[4] |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 100-400 meters |
Comet total magnitude (M1) | 18.9 ± 1 |
Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 22.7 ± 0.9 |
Comet 252P/LINEAR is a periodic comet and near-Earth object discovered by the LINEAR survey on April 7, 2000. The comet is a Jupiter family comet, meaning that it passes quite close to the orbit of Jupiter.[4]
At some point, 252P/LINEAR separated from a second object designated P/2016 BA14 (PANSTARRS), that was discovered in January 2016.[5][6] The nucleus of P/2016 BA14 is 1,000 meters wide, which is larger than the nucleus of 252P, which is estimated to be 600 meters across, but it is less active.[7] 252P/LINEAR approached as close as 0.0356 AU (13.9 LD) to Earth on 21 March 2016.[8]
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