C/2017 T2 (PanSTARRS)
< C
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Pan-STARRS |
| Discovery date | 2 October 2017 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 2458756.5 (30 Sept 2019) |
| Observation arc | 3.93 years |
| Number of observations | 6896 |
| Orbit type | Oort cloud |
| Aphelion | ~74000 AU (inbound) ~3000 AU (outbound) |
| Perihelion | 1.6150 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99971 |
| Orbital period | ~7 million years (inbound) ~55000 years (outbound) |
| Inclination | 57.232° |
| Last perihelion | 4 May 2020 |
| Earth MOID | 1.2 AU (180 million km; 470 LD) |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.99 AU (148 million km; 390 LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 1.0–1.8 km (0.62–1.12 mi) |
Mean diameter | 1.4 km (0.87 mi) |
C/2017 T2 (PanSTARRS) is an Oort cloud comet discovered on 2 October 2017 when it was 9.2 AU (1.38 billion km) from the Sun. The closest approach to Earth was on 28 December 2019 at a distance of 1.52 AU (227 million km). It came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 4 May 2020 when it was safe from disintegration at 1.6 AU from the Sun. (Mars is also roughly 1.6 AU from the Sun.)