243P/NEAT

243P/NEAT
Discovery
Discovered byNear-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT)
Discovery date24 September 2003
Designations
P/2003 S2
P/2010 P5
NEAT 17
Orbital characteristics
Epoch9 June 2026 (JD 2461200.5)
Observation arc23.06 years
Earliest precovery date1 August 2003
Number of
observations		858
Aphelion5.202 AU
Perihelion2.448 AU
Semi-major axis3.825 AU
Eccentricity0.35997
Orbital period7.480 years
Inclination7.645°
87.574°
Argument of
periapsis		283.79°
Mean anomaly13.623°
Last perihelion25 February 2026
Next perihelion11 September 2033
TJupiter2.944
Earth MOID1.469 AU
Jupiter MOID0.604 AU
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
0.81–1.55 km (0.50–0.96 mi)
0.04 (assumed)
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		9.9
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)		14.8

243P/NEAT is a Jupiter-family comet currently with a 7.49-year orbit around the Sun.

Physical characteristics

In 2008, Elena M. Epifani observed the comet while it was inactive at a distance of 4.0 AU (600 million km), where she estimated that the nucleus has an effective radius of 0.81–1.55 km (0.50–0.96 mi), assuming that it has a geometric albedo of 0.04. Yanga R. Fernández estimated a revised upper limit of approximately 0.6 km (0.37 mi) based on Spitzer thermal observations in 2013. Michael S. P. Kelley stated that both results can be simultaneously true if the comet has an axial ratio of a/b > 1.3, which is a modest value for typical cometary nuclei.

Notes

  1. ↑ Observation arc from the Minor Planet Center database covering dates from 1 August 2003 until 24 August 2026.

References

  1. ↑ M. Hicks; R. Apitzsch; P. Birtwhistle; et al. (25 September 2003). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet P/2003 S2 (NEAT)". IAU Circular. 8209 (2). Bibcode:2003IAUC.8209....2H.
  2. ↑ "Periodic Comet Names and Designations". Planetary Data System: Small Body Node. NASA. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  3. ↑ "243P/NEAT – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "243P/NEAT Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "Horizons Batch for 243P/NEAT (90001209) on 2033-Sep-11" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 16 April 2026. (JPL#57 Soln.date: 2026-Mar-07)
  6. 1 2 E. M. Epifani; P. Palumbo; M. T. Capria; et al. (2008). "The distant activity of Short Period Comets II" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 390 (1): 265–280. Bibcode:2008MNRAS.390..265M. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13718.x.
  7. ↑ Y. R. Fernández; M. S. P. Kelley; P. L. Lamy; I. Toth; O. Groussin; et al. (2013). "Thermal properties, sizes, and size distribution of Jupiter-family cometary nuclei". Icarus. 226 (1): 1138–1170. arXiv:1307.6191. Bibcode:2013Icar..226.1138F. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2013.07.021.
  8. ↑ M. S. P. Kelley; S. Protopapa; D. Bodewits; A. N. Heinze; Y. Moulane; et al. (2025). "A Large Outburst, Coma Asymmetries, and the Color of Comet 243P/NEAT". The Planetary Science Journal. 6 (8): 185. arXiv:2506.19027. Bibcode:2025PSJ.....6..185K. doi:10.3847/PSJ/ade5ac.
  9. ↑ M. M. Knight; R. Kokotanekova; N. H. Samarasinha (2024). "Physical and Surface Properties of Comet Nuclei from Remote Observations". In K. J. Meech (ed.). Comets III. University of Arizona Press. pp. 361–404. arXiv:2304.09309. JSTOR jj.21819446.18.