C/2020 S3 (Erasmus)
Comet Erasmus photographed from the Zwicky Transient Facility on 14 November 2020 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Nicolas Erasmus |
| Discovery site | ATLAS–MLO (T08) |
| Discovery date | 17 September 2020 |
| Designations | |
| CK20S030 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 11 March 2021 (JD 2459284.5) |
| Observation arc | 436 days (1.19 years) |
| Number of observations | 861 |
| Aphelion | 389.268 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.3985 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 194.833 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99795 |
| Orbital period | ~2,720 years |
| Inclination | 19.861° |
| 222.993° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 349.886° |
| Mean anomaly | 0.032° |
| Last perihelion | 12 December 2020 |
| TJupiter | 0.762 |
| Earth MOID | 0.315 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.584 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 1.6–2.4 km (0.99–1.49 mi) |
Mean diameter | 2.0 km (1.2 mi) |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 13.0 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 14.8 |
| 3.9 (2020 apparition) | |
Comet Erasmus, formally designated as C/2020 S3, is a non-periodic comet which passed perihelion on 12 December 2020. Its maximum brightness peaked around an apparent magnitude of 4, however its proximity to the Sun at that time made it a difficult object to view from the ground.