166P/NEAT
Chiron-type comet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
166P/NEAT is a periodic comet and centaur in the outer Solar System. It was discovered by the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) project in 2001 and initially classified a comet with provisional designation P/2001 T4 (NEAT), as it was apparent from the discovery observations that the body exhibited a cometary coma. It is one of few known bodies with centaur-like orbits that display a coma, along with 60558 Echeclus, 2060 Chiron, 165P/LINEAR and 167P/CINEOS. It is also one of the reddest centaurs.[8]
 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | NEAT |
| Discovery date | October 15, 2001 |
| Designations | |
| P/2001 T4 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | March 6, 2006 |
| Aphelion | 19.1 AU |
| Perihelion | 8.559 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 13.83 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.3811 |
| Orbital period | 51.43 a |
| Inclination | 15.3813° |
| Last perihelion | May 20, 2002[1] |
| Next perihelion | November 26, 2053[2][3][4][5] |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 14.32 km (8.90 mi)[6] |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 7.0 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 10.6 |
166P/NEAT has a perihelion distance of 8.56 AU,[1] and is a Chiron-type comet with (TJupiter > 3; a > aJupiter).[1]
