C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)
Comet Lovejoy on 19 January 2015 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Terry Lovejoy 0.2-m Schmidt |
| Discovery site | Birkdale Observatory (Q80) |
| Discovery date | 17 August 2014 |
| Designations | |
| CK14Q020 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 30 March 2015 (JD 2457111.5) |
| Observation arc | 2.2 years (802 days) |
| Earliest precovery date | 1 July 2014 |
| Number of observations | 7,890 |
| Aphelion | ~1,160 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.291 AU |
| Semi-major axis | ~580 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99811 |
| Orbital period | ~11,000 years (inbound) ~8,000 years (outbound) |
| Inclination | 80.301° |
| 94.975° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 12.395° |
| Mean anomaly | 0.004° |
| Last perihelion | 30 January 2015 |
| TJupiter | 0.246 |
| Earth MOID | 0.320 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 3.811 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 6.0 km (3.7 mi) |
| 17.89±0.17 hours | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 9.1 |
| 4.0 (2015 apparition) | |
C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) is a non-periodic comet discovered on 17 August 2014 by Terry Lovejoy using a 0.2-meter (8 in) Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope. It was discovered as a 15th-magnitude object in the southern constellation of Puppis. It is the fifth comet discovered by Terry Lovejoy.