C/2002 V1 (NEAT)
{{Short description|Sungrazing comet}}
{{redirect|Comet NEAT|other comets discovered by the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking survey|Comet NEAT (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox comet
| name = C/2002 V1 (NEAT)
| image = C 2002 V1 2003-02-01 J87 v1.jpg
| caption = Comet NEAT on February 1, 2003
| discovery_ref = {{r|MPEC_2002-V31}}
| discoverer = S. H. Pravdo
| discovery_site = NEAT–Haleakalā (608)
| discovery_date = 6 November 2002
| designations = Comet NEAT
CK02V010{{r|MPEC_2002-V31}}
Great Comet of 2003{{r|southcomets}}
| orbit_ref = {{r|barycenter|jpl}}
| epoch = 26 December 2002 (JD 2452634.5)
| observation_arc = 350 days
| obs = 1,510
| semimajor = 1,010 AU
| perihelion = 0.0992 AU
| aphelion = 2,020 AU
| eccentricity = 0.999902
| period = 32,123 years
| inclination = 81.706°
| asc_node = 64.088°
| arg_peri = 152.170°
| tjup = 0.061
| Earth_moid = 0.1511 AU
| Jupiter_moid = 0.9175 AU
| physical_ref = {{r|Kronk_2003|Paradowski_2022}}
| mean_radius = {{val|1.57|0.16}} km
| density = {{val|470|70}} kg/m3
| M1 = 6.0
| M2 = 13.8
| magnitude = –0.5
{{small|(2003 apparition)}}{{r|ICQ2}}
| last_p = 18 February 2003
| next_p =
}}
Comet NEAT, formally designated as C/2002 V1, is a non-periodic comet that appeared in November 2002.{{r|MPEC_2002-V31}} The comet peaked with an apparent magnitude of approximately –0.5, making it the eighth-brightest comet seen since 1935.{{r|ICQ2}} It was seen by SOHO in February 2003. At perihelion the comet was only {{convert|0.0992|AU|e6km|abbr=unit}} from the Sun, where it was initially expected to be disintegrated, however reanalysis of its orbit has indicated that it has survived many of its previous perihelia, thus making breakup unlikely.{{r|astromag}}
Observations
Comet NEAT was discovered from the {{cvt|1.2|m|ft}} Schmidt telescope of the Haleakalā Observatory as a magnitude-17 object on 6 November 2002 on the course of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) survey.{{r|Kronk_2003}} The comet became visible in the naked eye by January 2003.{{r|southcomets|space.com1|esa1}}
The comet was hit by a coronal mass ejection during its perihelion on 18 February 2003,{{r|soho1|space.com2}} where it was only 5.7 degrees from the Sun from Earth's perspective.{{r|barycenter|APOD_20030224}} Speculation that the CME was caused by the comet's close approach was dismissed by scientists; comets and CMEs occur close together in time only by coincidence,{{r|space.com3|sungrazing}} and there were 56 CMEs recorded in February 2003.{{r|SIDC2003-02}} C/2002 V1 (NEAT) appeared impressive as viewed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) as a result of the forward scattering of light off of the dust in the coma and tail. The comet remained observable with telescopes until October 2003.{{r|jpl}}
The orbit of a long-period comet is properly obtained when the osculating orbit is computed at an epoch after leaving the planetary region and is calculated with respect to the center of mass of the Solar System. Using JPL Horizons, the barycentric orbital elements for epoch 2020-Jan-01 generate a semi-major axis of 1,100 AU, an apoapsis distance of 2,230 AU, and a period of approximately 37,000 years.{{r|barycenter}}
References
{{reflist|refs=
| title= Comet Neat Passes an Erupting Sun
| date= 24 February 2003
| access-date= 7 September 2011 }}
| author1= M. E. Bakich
| title= 15 Greatest Comets of our Time
| url= https://www.astronomy.com/science/15-greatest-comets-of-our-time/
| website= www.astronomy.com
| publisher= Astronomy Magazine
| date= 5 January 2023
| access-date= 30 October 2024 }}
| author1= Horizons output
| url= http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi?find_body=1&body_group=sb&sstr=C/2002+V1
| title= Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT)
| access-date= 6 April 2011 }} (Solution using the Solar System Barycenter and barycentric coordinates. Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
| title= Surf the Web to see the Sun-dancing comet
| url= http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEMD3X1A6BD_index_0.html
| publisher= ESA
| date= 12 February 2003
| access-date= 5 December 2024
| archive-date= 2 March 2003
| archive-url= http://web.archive.org/web/20030302140655/http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEMD3X1A6BD_index_0.html
| url-status= dead }}
| title= Brightest comets seen since 1935
| url= http://www.icq.eps.harvard.edu/brightest.html
| website= International Comet Quarterly
| access-date= 12 February 2009 }}
| title= C/2002 V1 (NEAT) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup
| url= https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=2002V1
| website= ssd.jpl.nasa.gov
| publisher= Jet Propulsion Laboratory
| access-date= 5 December 2024 }}
| author1= G. W. Kronk
| title= C/2002 V1 (NEAT)
| url= https://cometography.com/lcomets/2002v1.html
| website= Cometography.com
| access-date= 5 August 2008 }}
| author1= B. G. Marsden
| title= MPEC 2002-V31 : Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT)
| url= https://www.minorplanetcenter.org/mpec/K02/K02V31.html
| website= www.minorplanetcenter.net
| publisher= Minor Planet Center
| date= 7 November 2002
| access-date= 7 April 2011 }}
| author1= M. L. Paradowski
| title= A New Indirect Method of Determining Density of Cometary Nuclei
| url= https://acta.astrouw.edu.pl/Vol72/n2/pdf/pap_72_2_4.pdf
| journal= Acta Astronomica
| year= 2022
| volume= 72
| issue= 2
| pages= 141–159
| bibcode= 2022AcA....72..141P
| issn= 0001-5237
| doi= 10.32023/0001-5237/72.2.4
| doi-access= free }}
| title= 56 CME in 2003/02
| url= http://sidc.oma.be/cactus/catalog/LASCO/2_5_0/2003/02/latestCMEs.html
| publisher= Solar Influences Data Analysis Center (SIDC / CACTus catalogue)
| date=13 September 2010
| type= At 05:57:07
| access-date= 7 October 2011 }} [http://sidc.oma.be/cactus/catalog/LASCO/2_5_0/dataoverview/CME_and_SSN_rate.png (CME rate)]
| title= Images of Comet NEAT taken by LASCO during perihelion
| url= http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots/2003_02_12/table.html
| website= soho.nascom.nasa.gov
| date= 12–20 February 2003
| access-date= 5 December 2024 }}
| author1= M. Mattiazzo
| title= The Great Binocular Comet of 2003
| url= https://southerncomets.info/webpage/2002V1_NEAT.htm
| website= Southern Comets Homepage
| access-date= 30 October 2024 }}
| author1= J. Rao
| title= Spacewatch Friday: Promising New Comet Called NEAT (C/2002 V1) Graces Evening Sky
| url= http://www.space.com/spacewatch/comet_neat_030131.html
| website= Space.com
| date= 31 January 2003
| access-date= 5 December 2024
| archive-date= 4 April 2004
| archive-url= http://web.archive.org/web/20040404112347/http://www.space.com/spacewatch/comet_neat_030131.html
| url-status= dead }}
| author1= R. R. Britt
| title= Amazing Live Images: Sungrazing Comet Possibly Hit by Solar Eruption
| url= http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/neat_soho_030218.html
| website= Space.com
| date= 18 February 2003
| access-date= 5 August 2008
| archive-date= 5 June 2003
| archive-url= http://web.archive.org/web/20030605075757/http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/neat_soho_030218.html
| url-status= dead }}
| author1= R. R. Britt
| title= Alleged NASA Cover-up of Menacing 'NEAT' Comet Threat is Pure Bunk, Experts Say
| url= http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/comet_conspiracy_030228.html
| website= Space.com
| date= 28 February 2003
| access-date= 5 August 2008
| archive-date= 5 March 2005
| archive-url= http://web.archive.org/web/20050305114222/http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/comet_conspiracy_030228.html
| url-status= dead }}
| title= Big comet, big CME... big coincidence?
| url= https://sungrazer.nrl.navy.mil/index.php?p=news/comets_cmes
| website= sungrazing.nrl.navy.mil
| publisher= Sungrazing Comets
| date= 4 October 2011
| archive-date= 5 October 2011
| archive-url= http://web.archive.org/web/20111005215531/http://sungrazer.nrl.navy.mil/index.php?p=news/comets_cmes
| url-status= live }}
}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{JPL Small Body|id=1000419}}
- [http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots/2003_02_12/ SOHO Hotshots] of Comet NEAT
- [https://hdr-astrophotography.com/simulation-of-past-comets-2000-today/ HDR Astrophotography: Simulations Atlas of Past Comets (2000 to Today)] by Nicolas Lefaudeux
{{Comets}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:NEAT, 2002 V1}}