163P/NEAT

163P/NEAT
Discovery[1]
Discovered byNear-Earth Asteroid Tracking (644)
Discovery sitePalomar Observatory
Discovery date5 November 2004
Designations
P/2004 V4
Orbital characteristics[2][3]
Epoch21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5)
Observation arc29.39 years
Earliest precovery date24 October 1990[4]
Number of
observations		384
Aphelion5.465 AU
Perihelion2.055 AU
Semi-major axis3.760 AU
Eccentricity0.45348
Orbital period7.29 years
Inclination12.724°
102.07°
Argument of
periapsis		349.67°
Mean anomaly310.26°
Last perihelion5 August 2019[5]
Next perihelion24 November 2026[6]
TJupiter2.858
Earth MOID0.946 AU
Jupiter MOID0.094 AU
Physical characteristics[2]
Mean radius
1.39 km (0.86 mi)[7]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		11.8
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)		16.5

163P/NEAT is a Jupiter-family comet roughly 3 km in diameter with a 7.3 year orbit around the Sun. It was discovered on 5 November 2004 by Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) using the 1.2 meter Samuel Oschin telescope at the Palomar Observatory.[1]

It will come to perihelion on 24 November 2026 when it will be 2.1 AU from the Sun, and is only expected to reach magnitude 18[8] placing it outside the range of most amateur astronomers.

Observational history

Precovery images of the comet were found by Maik Meyer in December 2004.[4] There were two images from 1997, two images from 1991, and three images from 1990.[9] It is subsequently given a permanent numerical designation (163P) on 18 January 2005.[10]

During the 2005 perihelion passage the comet brightened to an apparent magnitude of about 16.[11] Ahead of its 2012 apparition, the comet was observed three times on 3 November 2011 by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey while it was a 20th-magnitude object at a distance of 1.5 AU (220 million km) from the Sun.[12]

Orbit

Around 17 November 2114, the comet will pass about 0.117 AU (17.5 million km; 10.9 million mi) from Jupiter.[2]

Physical characteristics

Infrared observations obtained by the Spitzer Space Telescope between 2006 and 2007 revealed that the nucleus of 163P/NEAT is about 1.39 km (0.86 mi) in radius.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 K. J. Lawrence; R. H. McNaught (6 November 2004). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet P/2004 V4 (NEAT)". IAU Circular. 8429 (2). Bibcode:2004IAUC.8429....2L.
  2. 1 2 3 "163P/NEAT – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  3. ↑ "163P/NEAT Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 M. Meyer (2004). "The Precovery of Comet 163P/2004 V4 (NEAT)". Catalogue of Comet Discoveries. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  5. ↑ Syuichi Nakano (12 October 2011). "163P/NEAT (NK 2129)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Horizons Batch for 163P/NEAT (90001108) on 2026-Nov-24" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 24 July 2026. (JPL#40 Soln.date: 2021-Sep-22)
  7. 1 2 Y. R. Fernández; M. S. P. Kelley; P. L. Lamy; et al. (2013). "Thermal properties, sizes, and size distribution of Jupiter-family cometary nuclei". Icarus. 226 (1): 1138–1170. arXiv:1307.6191. Bibcode:2013Icar..226.1138F. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2013.07.021.
  8. ↑ G. van Buitenen. "163P/NEAT". astro.vanbuitenen.nl. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  9. ↑ "MPEC 2004-X29 : COMET P/2004 V4 (NEAT)". IAU Minor Planet Center. 8 December 2004. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  10. ↑ D. W. Green (18 January 2005). "Comet 163P/2004 V4 (NEAT)". IAU Circular. 8468 (4). Bibcode:2005IAUC.8468....4G.
  11. ↑ Seiichi Yoshida (23 April 2005). "163P/NEAT (2005)". Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  12. ↑ A. Waszczak; E. O. Ofek; O. Aharonson; et al. (2013). "Main-belt comets in the Palomar Transient Factory survey – I. The Search for Extendedness" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 433 (4): 3115–3132. Bibcode:2013MNRAS.433.3115W. doi:10.1093/mnras/stt951.
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