166P/NEAT
Chiron-type comet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
166P/NEAT is a Chiron-type 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 ever known.[7]
Discoverydate15 October 2001
P/2001 T4
 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovery site | Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) |
| Discovery date | 15 October 2001 |
| Designations | |
| P/2001 T4 | |
| Orbital characteristics[1][2] | |
| Epoch | 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5) |
| Observation arc | 7.51 years |
| Earliest precovery date | 27 August 2001 |
| Number of observations | 177 |
| Aphelion | 19.142 AU |
| Perihelion | 8.555 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 13.849 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.38222 |
| Orbital period | 51.537 years |
| Inclination | 15.386° |
| 64.335° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 321.99° |
| Mean anomaly | 163.94° |
| Last perihelion | 20 May 2002 |
| Next perihelion | 26 November 2053[3][4] |
| TJupiter | 3.284 |
| Earth MOID | 7.582 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 3.693 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 14.32 km (8.90 mi)[5] |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 7.0 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 10.6 |
166P/NEAT has a perihelion distance of 8.56 AU (1.281 billion km).[1]
