C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE)

C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE) is a hyperbolic comet discovered 21 October 2016 by NEOWISE, the asteroid-and-comet-hunting portion of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission.[1][2][3] The comet may be visible to skywatchers on Earth, at an estimated +6th magnitude (naked eye brightness),[4] during the first week of 2017 and will be closest to the Sun on 14 January 2017.[2][5] It was closest to the Earth on 13 December 2016 at 106,000,000 km (66,000,000 mi)[4] away; it is not considered a threat to Earth.[2]

Orbit of C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE) on 14 January 2017, closest approach to the Sun.[1][3]

C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE)
Discovery
Discovered byNEOWISE project
Discovery dateFriday 21 October 2016[1]
Orbital characteristics A
Epoch2457723.5 (2016-Dec-01.0) TDB[1] Reference: JPL 4 (heliocentric ecliptic J2000)[1]
Perihelion0.3191 AU[1]
Semi-major axis-3477.5728 AU[1]
Eccentricity1.0001[1]
Inclination46.4292 deg[1]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		13.7[1]
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)		20.0[1]
Last perihelion14 January 2017
Next perihelion[none]

References
  1. Park, Ryan S.; Chamberlin, Alan B. (30 December 2016). "JPL small-body database browser – C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE)". JPL. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. Agle, DC; Cantillo, Laurie; Brown, Dwayne (29 December 2016). "NASA's NEOWISE mission spies one comet – maybe two". NASA. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  3. Dickinson, David (28 December 2016). "Comet U1 NEOWISE — a possible binocular comet?". Phys.org. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  4. MacDonald, Fiona (31 December 2016). "A rare comet is zooming past Earth right now, and you should be able to see it with binoculars". ScienceAlert.com. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  5. Williams, Matt (30 December 2016). "NASA'S NEOWISE mission spots new comets". Universe Today. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
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