C/2006 W3 (Christensen)

C/2006 W3 (Christensen) is a non-periodic comet that was observed through telescopes between 2006 and 2011. It is one of several comets discovered by American astronomer, Eric J. Christensen.

C/2006 W3 (Christensen)

Comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen) photographed near Mayhill, New Mexico on 25 June 2009
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Eric J. Christensen
Discovery site	Catalina Sky Survey
Discovery date	18 November 2006
Orbital characteristics[2][3]
Epoch	11 March 2009 (JD 2454901.5)
Observation arc	4.90 years (1,791 days)
Earliest precovery date	29 October 2006
Number of observations	5,639
Aphelion	~5,300 AU (inbound) ~8,200 AU (outbound)
Perihelion	3.126 AU
Eccentricity	0.99982
Orbital period	~140,000 years (inbound) ~260,000 years (outbound)
Max. orbital speed	23.8 km/s
Inclination	127.07°
Longitude of ascending node	113.57°
Argument of periapsis	133.51°
Last perihelion	6 July 2009
TJupiter	–1.321
Earth MOID	2.299 AU
Jupiter MOID	1.304 AU
Physical characteristics[4][5]
Mean radius	13.0±2.0 km
Synodic rotation period	21 hours
Geometric albedo	0.04 (assumed)
Comet total magnitude (M1)	8.2
Apparent magnitude	7.6 (2009 apparition)[6]

Physical characteristics

Infrared observations from Herschel and Spitzer in 2009 allowed astronomers to estimate the size and rotation of C/2003 W3's nucleus.^[4] Initial estimates in 2010 revealed an effective radius of <26 km (16 mi),^[7] however this value was later revised to 13±2 km in 2016, assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04.^[5] Data from Spitzer also revealed that the comet has a rotation period of 21 hours.^[4]