C/2014 S3 (PanSTARRS)
< C
Comet PANSTARRS photographed by Karen Jean Meech from ESO on 29 April 2016 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Pan-STARRS Richard J. Wainscoat, et. al |
| Discovery site | Haleakala Observatory |
| Discovery date | 22 September 2014 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 8 October 2014 (JD 2456938.5) |
| Observation arc | 57 days |
| Number of observations | 48 |
| Aphelion | 174.29 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.049 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 88.168 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.97676 |
| Orbital period | ~830 years |
| Inclination | 169.32° |
| 356.05° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 293.14° |
| Mean anomaly | 0.066° |
| Last perihelion | 13 August 2014 |
| Next perihelion | ~2840s |
| TJupiter | –1.675 |
| Earth MOID | 1.089 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.254 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 0.5–1.4 km (0.31–0.87 mi) |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 17.5 |
C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) is a long-period comet with an approximately 830-year orbit around the Sun. Although it likely originated from the Oort cloud, it has an unusually rocky composition not typically seen in other comets.