C / 2012 S4 is a long-period comet with the largest aphelion from the JPL small bodies listed in the database. But the indicated value of aphelion is 500,000 a. e. (8 light years ) from the Sun - this is a generalized solution of the two-body problem near perihelion, suggesting that the Sun and the comet are the only two objects in the Universe. Other comets, such as C / 2015 TQ209 and C / 2017 A3 (Elenin), had solutions for some ages with aphelion more than 1,000,000 AU (16 St. years ). For comparison, the distance to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri , is about 4.24 light years from the Sun, and Wolf 359 is 7.78 light years from us. Any comets at a distance of more than about 150,000 a. e. (2 St. years ) from the Sun can be considered lost in the interstellar medium . But C / 2012 C4 will not be thrown out of the solar system.
| C / 2012 S4 (PANSTARRS) | |
|---|---|
| Opening | |
| Discoverer | Pan-STARRS (Bryce Bolin, Peter Veres, Larry Denneau, Richard Wainscoat, Rob Jedicke, Marco Micheli) |
| opening date | September 28, 2012 |
| Orbit characteristics | |
| Age of April 22, 2013 ( JD 2456404.5) [1] | |
| Eccentricity | 0.999983 ± 0.000007 [1] |
| Semimajor axis ( a ) | ~ 2800 AU (barycentric) 252000 ± 97000 AU [1] |
| Perihelion ( q ) | 4.348730 ± 0.000004 au [one] |
| Aphelion ( Q ) | ~ 5700 a.u. (barycentric) 504,000 ± 194,000 a.u. [one] |
| Circulation Period ( P ) | ~ 150,000 years non-periodic; approx. 127e6 ± 73 years [1] |
| Last perihelion | June 28, 2013 |
| physical characteristics | |
Barycentric Orbit
Integration of the orbit as long as the comet is beyond the limits of planetary disturbances forms a barycentric aphelion ~ 5700 a. e. She will be no further than 30 a. e. from the sun until 2028.
Its size is estimated commensurate with the comet 67P / Churyumova - Gerasimenko .
See also
- List of some long-period comets