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450P/LONEOS

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450P/LONEOS
Infrared image of 450P/LONEOS taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope on 4 March 2007
Discovery[1][2]
Discovery siteLONEOS
Discovery date13 January 2004
Designations
P/2004 A1, P/2022 Q3
LONEOS 8[3]
Orbital characteristics[4][5]
Epoch5 May 2024 (JD 2460800.5)
Observation arc21.39 years
Earliest precovery date25 October 2003
Number of
observations		629
Aphelion10.442 AU
Perihelion5.449 AU
Semi-major axis7.945 AU
Eccentricity0.31423
Orbital period22.396 years
Inclination10.653°
124.35°
Argument of
periapsis		23.148°
Mean anomaly332.08°
Last perihelion25 August 2004
Next perihelion24 July 2027[6][7]
TJupiter2.961
Earth MOID4.465 AU
Jupiter MOID0.184 AU
Physical characteristics[4]
Mean radius
1.8±0.5 km[8]
(V–R) = 0.51±0.21[9]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		6.7
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)		11.3

450P/LONEOS, also known by its formal designations P/2004 A1 and P/2022 Q3, is a distant periodic comet with a 22-year orbit around the Sun.

Observational history

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Discovery

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The comet was discovered as an 18th-magnitude object on CCD images taken by Brian A. Skiff as part of the Lowell Observatory's LONEOS program.[1] The LONEOS images show the object with a stellar-like appearance, but its motion prompted Skiff to request additional observations. H. R. Miller (Perkins Observatory) and J. Young (Table Mountain Observatory) later found a coma about 4 arcseconds in diameter and a very faint tail about 10 arcseconds in length, confirming its cometary nature.[1] At the time its cometary activity was detected, 450P/LONEOS (then known as P/2004 A1) was about 5.54 AU (829 million km) from the Sun.[10] The first orbital calculations were later published on the Minor Planet Center's website on 13 January 2004, alongside precovery images taken by the Kitt Peak Observatory dating as far back as 18 December 2003.[2]

Follow-up observations

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The comet was successfully recovered from observations taken by the Gemini North Observatory in August 2022, where it was noted to be 4.5 magnitudes fainter than previously predicted.[11][12] The comet received its official numerical designation (450P) alongside 8 other comets on February 2023.[13]

Orbit

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As of 2024, 450P/LONEOS has a heliocentric orbit inclined about 10.65 degrees from the ecliptic. Its perihelion distance is about 5.45 AU (815 million km) while its aphelion goes as far back as 10.44 AU (1.562 billion km) from the Sun.[5] Orbital calculations indicated that it made a close encounter with Saturn in 1992,[10] when it came within 0.031 AU (4.6 million km) to the giant planet.[4] This resulted in its semimajor axis to be significantly decreased by 5.2 AU (780 million km).[14] A long-term orbital investigation indicated that this is likely its first sojourn to the inner Solar System as it transitions from a centaur into a Jupiter-family comet.[14][15]

Physical characteristics

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A 2011 study revealed that based on its measured dust activity, the nucleus of 450P/LONEOS may be somewhere between 0.5 km (0.31 mi) and 3.5 km (2.2 mi) in radius.[9] At the time it was in an inactive state between 2019 and 2024, further observations from both the Gemini Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) revised this to roughly 1.8±0.5 km.[8] Its asymmetrical coma and anti-tail during its 2004 apparition extended up to a distance of 150,000 km (93,000 mi) in the solar direction.[16]

During its 2022 apparition, it has a low dust production rate of about ~4.8 kg/sec-1 primarily driven by CO2 outgassing from amorphous water ice crystallization at temperatures between 140–160 K.[8][10]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 B. A. Skiff; H. R. Miller; J. Young (13 January 2004). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet P/2004 A1". IAU Circular. 8267 (1). Bibcode:2004IAUC.8267....1S.
  2. 1 2 B. G. Marsden (13 January 2004). "MPEC 2004-A51: Comet P/2004 A1". www.minorplanetcenter.net. Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  3. ↑ "Periodic Comet Names and Designations". Planetary Data System: Small Body Node. NASA. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "450P/LONEOS – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  5. 1 2 "450P/LONEOS Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  6. ↑ "Horizons Batch for 450P/LONEOS (90001434) on 2027-Jul-24" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 20 April 2026. (JPL#82 Soln.date: 2026-Apr-14)
  7. ↑ S. Yoshida (20 November 2022). "450P/LONEOS". www.aerith.net. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 C. A. Schambeau; M. S. P. Kelley; M. Womack; et al. (2026). "JWST and Gemini Observations of the Active Centaur 450P/LONEOS: Nucleus and Coma Characterizations". The Planetary Science Journal. 7 (6): 137–152. arXiv:2605.24260. Bibcode:2026PSJ.....7..137S. doi:10.3847/PSJ/ae685c.
  9. 1 2 E. M. Epifani; M. Dall’Ora; D. Perna; P. Palumbo; L. Colangeli (2011). "The Cometary Activity of Centaur P/2004 A1 (LONEOS)" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 415 (4): 3097–3106. Bibcode:2011MNRAS.415.3097M. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18919.x.
  10. 1 2 3 M. T. Capria; A. Coradini; M. C. De Sanctis; E. M. Epifani; P. Palumbo (2009). "Thermal modeling of the active Centaur P/2004 A1 (LONEOS)" (PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics. 504 (1): 249–258. Bibcode:2009A&A...504..249C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/20078106.
  11. ↑ M. Rudenko; C. A. Schambeau; M. Micheli; et al. (8 October 2022). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet P/2004 A1 = P/2022 Q3 (LONEOS)". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 5178 (1). Bibcode:2022CBET.5178....1R.
  12. ↑ "MPEC 2022-T106: Comet P/2004 A1 = P/2022 Q3 (LONEOS)". www.minorplanetcenter.net. Minor Planet Center. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  13. ↑ D. W. Green (24 February 2023). "New Numberings of Short-Period Comets". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 5227 (1). Bibcode:2023CBET.5227....1.
  14. 1 2 E. Lilly; P. Jevcak; C. A. Schambeau; K. Volk; J. Steckloff; et al. (2024). "Semimajor-axis Jumps as the Activity Trigger in Centaurs and High-perihelion Jupiter-family Comets". The Astrophysical Journal. 960 (2): L8. arXiv:2312.06847. Bibcode:2024ApJ...960L...8L. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad1606.
  15. ↑ G. Hahn; C. I. Lagerkvist; O. Karlsson; T. Oja; R. M. Stoss (2006). "P/2004 A1 (LONEOS) – A Comet under Transition from Saturn to Jupiter". Astronomische Nachrichten. 327 (1): 17–20. Bibcode:2006AN....327...17H. doi:10.1002/asna.200510484.
  16. ↑ E. M. Epifani; P. Palumbo; M. T. Capria; et al. (2006). "The dust coma of the active Centaur P/2004 A1 (LONEOS): a CO-driven environment?" (PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics. 460 (3): 935–944. Bibcode:2006A&A...460..935M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065189.
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