Chiron-type comet
{{Short description|Family of comets}}
A Chiron-type comet (CTC) is a member of a small family of comets defined as having a semi-major axis larger than that of Jupiter (5.2 AU) and a Tisserand's parameter with respect to Jupiter (TJupiter) of more than 3.
The family is named after its largest and most prominent member 2060 Chiron, officially designated as both a comet (95P/Chiron) and a minor planet of the centaur-class, which blurs the line between the two groups.
There are four numbered comets considered to be classical members of this family: 39P/Oterma, 165P/LINEAR, 166P/NEAT, and 167P/CINEOS.
CTCs are distinct from the Encke-type comets (ETC) and Jupiter-family comets (JFC). Contrary to the Chiron-type comets, JFCs have a TJupiter of less than 3 (typically with a period of less than 20 years), while the ETCs have a semi-major axis smaller than that of Jupiter. Another group, the Halley-type comets (HTC), only have a classical definition, that is a period between 20 and 200 years. Members of the CTC family have a dynamical lifetime of 6.5 million years, much longer than the 50,000 years attributed to the Jupiter-family comets.
References
{{reflist|30em|refs=
|title = NASA PDS: Small Bodies Node – Object Classifications
|url = https://pdssbn.astro.umd.edu/data_other/objclass.shtml
|publisher = NASA PDS –Planetary Data System
|accessdate = 18 July 2019}}
|title = JPL Small-Body Database Browser – Orbit Classification – Chiron-type Comet
|url = https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb_help.cgi?class=CTc
|publisher = Jet Propulsion Laboratory
|accessdate = 18 July 2019}}
|first1 = Matthew S. |last1 = Tiscareno
|first2 = Renu |last2 = Malhotra
|date = December 2003
|title = The Dynamics of Known Centaurs
|journal = The Astronomical Journal
|volume = 126
|issue = 6
|pages = 3122–3131
|bibcode = 2003AJ....126.3122T
|doi = 10.1086/379554
|arxiv = astro-ph/0211076
|s2cid = 8177784
}}
}}
External links
- [https://www.cometcountdown.com/Comet/95P/Chiron 95P/Chiron - 2060 Chiron (1977 UB), Cometary behavior]{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Comet Countdown
{{Comets|nonobject=yes}}