C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś)
Comet Wierzchoś with a split tail as it exits the inner solar system on 13 March 2026 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Kacper W. Wierzchoś |
| Discovery site | Mount Lemmon Obs. |
| Discovery date | 3 March 2024 |
| Designations | |
| CK24E010 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 3 May 2025 (JD 2460798.5) |
| Observation arc | 753 days (2.06 years) |
| Earliest precovery date | 15 February 2024 |
| Number of observations | 3,415 |
| Aphelion | ≈37000 AU (inbound) ≈24000 AU (outbound) |
| Perihelion | 0.5661 AU (85 million km) |
| Semi-major axis | ≈18000 AU (inbound) ≈12000 AU (outbound) |
| Eccentricity | 0.99997 (inbound) 0.99995 (outbound) |
| Orbital period | ≈3 million years (inbound) ≈1 million years (outbound) |
| Max. orbital speed | 56 km/s |
| Inclination | 75.238° |
| 108.08° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 243.64° |
| Mean anomaly | -0.00023° |
| Last perihelion | 20 January 2026 |
| TJupiter | 0.238 |
| Earth MOID | 0.1998 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.90 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 2–10 km (1.2–6.2 mi) |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 11.7±0.7 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 11.9±0.3 |
C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś) is a hyperbolic Oort cloud comet, discovered on 3 March 2024 by Polish astronomer Kacper Wierzchoś. It reached perihelion on 20 January 2026, with apparent magnitude of around +6.5, visible in larger binoculars. It has a highly eccentric orbit, with an inbound orbital period of millions of years and an outbound orbit of around 1 million years. Cometary emission activity for C/2024 E1 has been driven by carbon dioxide (CO2). It crossed the celestial equator on 17 November 2025. As of 8 March 2026, the comet is about apparent magnitude 10.