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
Geometric albedo	0.04 (assumed)
Comet total magnitude (M1)	8.2
Apparent magnitude	7.6 (2009 apparition)

Physical characteristics

Infrared observations from Herschel and Spitzer in 2009 allowed astronomers to estimate the size of C/2003 W3's nucleus. Initial estimates in 2010 revealed an effective radius of <26 km (16 mi),^[6] however this value was later revised to 13±2 km in 2016, assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04.^[5]