C/2006 VZ13 (LINEAR)

C/2006 VZ₁₃ (LINEAR) is a non-periodic comet discovered by the LINEAR survey on 13 November 2006.

For other comets of the same name, see List of comets discovered by the LINEAR project.

C/2006 VZ13 (LINEAR)

Comet LINEAR photographed from Mount Laguna, California on 11 July 2007
Discovery[1]
Discovery site	LINEAR
Discovery date	13 November 2006
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch	13 June 2007 (JD 2454264.5)
Observation arc	274 days
Number of observations	1,025
Perihelion	1.015 AU
Eccentricity	1.000249
Inclination	134.79°
Longitude of ascending node	66.027°
Argument of periapsis	174.12°
Last perihelion	10 August 2007
Earth MOID	0.0047 AU
Jupiter MOID	2.8204 AU
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	0.723 km (0.449 mi)[a]
Comet total magnitude (M1)	8.0[3]
Apparent magnitude	7.5 (2007 apparition)

Discovery and observations

C/2006 VZ₁₃ (LINEAR) and NGC 5820 taken by Robert Sharpe at Shuttleview observatory on 14 July 2007.

The object was initially believed to be an asteroid due to its stellar appearance in the early images.^[1] However, observers soon detected a small coma and the telltale green cometary cast.^[1]

The comet peaked at approximately magnitude +7.5,^[4] much brighter than predicted.^[5] The comet made its closest approach to Earth on 14 July 2007 at a distance of 0.575 AU (86.0 million km).^[2] It reached perihelion on 10 August 2007 at a distance of 1.015 AU (151.8 million km).

Physical characteristics

Infrared measurements from the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) in July 2007 yielded a mean grain temperature of 275±5 K, which was 6 percent higher than the equivalent radiative equilibrium blackbody of the comet at its distance from the Sun, which was approximately 1.02 AU at the time.^[6] Spectroscopic observations on the following month reveal that the comet's composition is depleted of carbon compounds, comparable to what was observed from 9P/Tempel.^[7]

Notes

1. Calculated mean radius using the formula: ${\displaystyle \log _{10}\,(\,R\,)\ =\;0.9+\;0.13(\,H\,)}$^[3]
   Where ${\displaystyle \,H\,}$ is the comet's absolute total magnitude (M1)