| Discoverer | Eric J. Christensen |
|---|---|
| Discovery site | Catalina Sky Survey |
| Discovery date | 27 October 2006 |
| Mpc name | P/2006 U5, P/2012 P1 |
| Epoch | 26 December 2026 (JD 2461400.5) |
| Observation arc | 18.93 years |
| Obs | 908 |
| Perihelion | 2.324 AU |
| Aphelion | 4.733 AU |
| Semimajor | 3.529 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.34133 |
| Period | 6.628 years |
| Inclination | 3.429° |
| Asc node | 4.941° |
| Arg peri | 97.951° |
| Mean | 2.763° |
| Tjup | 3.020 |
| Earth moid | 1.351 AU |
| Jupiter moid | 0.526 AU |
| Mean radius | 1.66 km (1.03 mi)[1] |
| M 1 | 11.0 |
| M 2 | 15.9 |
| Last p | 19 April 2020 |
| Next p | 7 December 2026 |
266P/Christensen is a Encke-type comet with a 6.63-year orbit around the Sun. It will next come to perihelion in December 2026. It has been suggested as the possible source of the 1977 "Wow! Signal",[2] however this was later disproven by a follow-up study in 2020, where it was found out to be likely a maser-like flare from small hydrogen clouds in interstellar space instead.[3]
Physical characteristics
Observations conducted by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in 2012 revealed that the nucleus of 266P has an upper limit no greater than 1.66 km (1.03 mi) in radius.[1]
References
- ^ M. Solontoi; Ž. Ivezíc; M. Juríc (2012). "Ensemble properties of comets in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey". Icarus. 218 (1): 571–584. arXiv:1202.3999. Bibcode:2012Icar..218..571S. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.10.008
- ^ A. Paris & E. Davies (2015). "Hydrogen Clouds from Comets 266/P Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) are Candidates for the Source of the 1977 "WOW" Signal". Washington Academy of Sciences. 101 (4): 25–32. arXiv:1706.04642. Bibcode:2017arXiv170604642P. JSTOR jwashacadscie.101.4.25
- ^ A. Méndez; K. O. Ceballos; J. I. Zuluaga (2020). "Arecibo Wow! I: An Astrophysical Explanation for the Wow! Signal". arXiv:2408.08513
External links
- 266P/Christensen at Seiichi Yoshida's website