C/2004 Q1 (Tucker)
Non-periodic comet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Comet Tucker, formally designated as C/2004 Q1, is a faint non-periodic comet that had a very distant perihelion on 11 December 2004. It was the second of two comets discovered by famed amateur astronomer, Roy A. Tucker.[a]
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Roy A. Tucker |
| Discovery site | Tucson, Arizona |
| Discovery date | 23 August 2004 |
| Designations | |
| CK04Q010[2] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch | 11 December 2004 (JD 2453350.5) |
| Observation arc | 615 days (1.68 years) |
| Earliest precovery date | 22 August 2004 |
| Number of observations | 1,972 |
| Aphelion | ~370 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.047 AU |
| Semi-major axis | ~190 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.98904 |
| Orbital period | ~2,550 years |
| Inclination | 56.088° |
| 22.130° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 32.968° |
| Mean anomaly | 0.0015° |
| Last perihelion | 6 December 2004 |
| TJupiter | 1.015 |
| Earth MOID | 1.146 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 2.582 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 9.6 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 11.8 |
| 10.5 (2004 apparition) | |
Discovery and observations
Roy A. Tucker discovered the comet as a diffuse magnitude 14.6 object in the constellation Cetus on 23 August 2004,[b] using a 0.35 m (14 in) reflector telescope.[4] Images on 25 August show a 30" coma and a tail measuring 70" in length.[1] Observations from Spain in the next day reported that it was 12.9 in apparent magnitude.[5] It steadily brightened in the following months until it reached perihelion on December 2004,[6] although it did not get any closer to the inner Solar System, resulting in a peak magnitude of 10.5.[7]
Orbital calculations by Brian G. Marsden revealed that C/2004 Q1 might not be a "new" comet from the Oort cloud, noting its trajectory as dynamically old.[8] It was last observed on 4 May 2005.[7][9]
