Comet Pojmański

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C/2006 A1 (Pojmański)

Semi-major axis		~1270 AU[1]
Eccentricity	1.0
Orbital period	~45,000 a[1]
Inclination	92.7°
Last perihelion	February 22, 2006
Next perihelion	unknown

Comet Pojmański is a

. A pre-discovery picture was later found from December 29, 2005.

At the time of its discovery, the comet was roughly 113 million miles (181 million kilometers) from the Sun. But orbital elements indicated that on February 22, 2006, it would reach

at a distance of 51.6 million miles — almost half the Earth's average distance from the Sun.

The comet moved on a northward path across the night sky, and reached maximum brightness around the beginning of March. Comet Pojmański reached the very fringe of naked-eye visibility at about magnitude 5, and was best visible through binoculars or a telescope. It could be found in the dawn sky within the constellation Capricornus, close to the horizon in the northern hemisphere, during late February, but viewing circumstances became better for the northern hemisphere as the comet departed southern skies and continued north.

Mt. Laguna

, March 2, 2006.

By early March, the comet was located in Aquila, the Eagle, and by March 7 was located in the constellation Delphinus, the Dolphin.

Comet Pojmański brightened more than initially estimated, perhaps due to over-cautious estimates by astronomers. It had previously been estimated to reach a maximum brightness of around 6.5 magnitude, but became considerably brighter.

During the comet's appearance, it sported a tail of three to seven degrees (six to fourteen times the apparent lunar diameter) and a

.

See also

• All Sky Automated Survey
• Bohdan Paczyński

References

External links

• Space.com: "New Comet Brightens Rapidly" (Accessed 2/27/06)
• Sky and Telescope: "A Surprise Comet in the Dawn" (Accessed 2/27/06)
• Comet Data and Images from Warsaw University
• NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Venus and Comet Pojmanski (3 March 2006)
• Comet Pojmański at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters