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C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)

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C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)
The comet on 28 September 2024
Discovery
Discovered byAsteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System-HKO (ATLAS)
Discovery date27 September 2024
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch30 September 2024
Observation arc8 days
Perihelion0.0082 AU
Eccentricity0.9998
Inclination142.0°
348.3°
Argument of
periapsis		70.0°
Next perihelion28 October 2024
Earth MOID0.51 AU
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		15.1
Image of the comet on 2024-09-28

C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) (previously had the temporary designation A11bP7I) is a sungrazing comet that was discovered by ATLAS-HKO in Hawaii on 27 September 2024. The comet will pass its perihelion on 28 October 2024, at a distance of about 0.008 AU (1.2 million km; 0.74 million mi) from the barycenter of the Solar System.[2] The comet has a similar orbit to the Kreutz sungrazers, which was created by the fragmentation of a large comet. After perihelion it could become visible to the naked eye and could look like C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), another Kreutz sungrazer.[3]

The comet was discovered during the ATLAS survey, using a 0.5-m reflector telescope located at Haleakala, Hawaii. The comet then was estimated to have an apparent magnitude of 15.3 and featured a coma about a half arcminute across. Further observations reported the coma was as large as three arcminutes across and the tail up to 156 arcseconds long.[2] The comet had upon discovery a greenish color, probably due to the presence of diatomic carbon.[4] The apparent magnitude of the comet was variously reported to range from magnitude 16.9 up to 11.5.[2] The presence of the green coma indicated that it was closer to 11.5. A visual observation was reported with a 30-cm reflector telescope, with a reported magnitude of 11.7.[4] The comet upon discovery was located in the constellation of Hydra.[5] The comet kept to a magnitude of 12–13 throughout the next week.[6]

On 8 October the comet was found to be elongated and to lack a central condensation, and to be overall fainter than it is was on 3 October, indicating that the comet possibly disintegrated, similarly to C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) in 2020. The comet on 8 October was located 0.802 AU from the Sun, which although not too close, could be enough for gases to vaporized and in combination with tidal or rotational forces may have lead to the fragmentation of the nucleus.[7]

The comet was predicted to be visible in the morning sky before perihelion, with better visibility from the southern hemisphere. During perihelion, if the comet has not disintegrated, it could brighten to a magnitude of -5 to -7, which is brighter than the planet Venus.[8] If it survives perihelion it will be visible again in the morning night sky, more favorably located for the southern hemisphere.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Small-Body Database Lookup: C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "MPEC 2024-T22 : COMET C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)". www.minorplanetcenter.net. Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Spaceweather.com Time Machine: Sep. 30, 2024". www.spaceweather.com. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  4. ^ a b Green, Daniel (1 October 2024). "COMET C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 5453: 1. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b James, Nick. "Interesting new sungrazing comet discovered – British Astronomical Association". British Astronomical Association. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Observation list for C/2024 S1". cobs.si. COBS - Comet OBServation database.
  7. ^ "ATel #16857: POSSIBLE DISINTEGRATION OF THE NUCLEUS OF COMET C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)". The Astronomer's Telegram. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  8. ^ Kizer Whitt, Kelly (30 September 2024). "Wow! Another one! Big new sungrazer comet could get SUPER-bright". earthsky.org. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
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