266P/Christensen
Encke-type comet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
266P/Christensen is a Encke-type comet with a 6.63-year orbit around the Sun. It will next come to perihelion in December 2026. It has been suggested as the possible source of the 1977 "Wow! Signal",[5] however this was later disproven by a follow-up study in 2020, where it was found out to be likely a maser-like flare from small hydrogen clouds in interstellar space instead.[6]
Discoverydate27 October 2006
P/2006 U5, P/2012 P1
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Eric J. Christensen |
| Discovery site | Catalina Sky Survey |
| Discovery date | 27 October 2006 |
| Designations | |
| P/2006 U5, P/2012 P1 | |
| Orbital characteristics[2][3] | |
| Epoch | 26 December 2026 (JD 2461400.5) |
| Observation arc | 18.93 years |
| Number of observations | 908 |
| Aphelion | 4.733 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.324 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.529 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.34133 |
| Orbital period | 6.628 years |
| Inclination | 3.429° |
| 4.941° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 97.951° |
| Mean anomaly | 2.763° |
| Last perihelion | 19 April 2020 |
| Next perihelion | 7 December 2026 |
| TJupiter | 3.020 |
| Earth MOID | 1.351 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.526 AU |
| Physical characteristics[2] | |
Mean radius | 1.66 km (1.03 mi)[4] |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 11.0 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 15.9 |
Physical characteristics
Observations conducted by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in 2012 revealed that the nucleus of 266P has an upper limit no greater than 1.66 km (1.03 mi) in radius.[4]
