C/2007 F1 (LONEOS) is a
hyperbolic
Hyperbolic is an adjective describing something that resembles or pertains to a hyperbola (a curve), to hyperbole (an overstatement or exaggeration), or to hyperbolic geometry.
The following phenomena are described as ''hyperbolic'' because they ...
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...
discovered on March 19, 2007 as part as the
Lowell Observatory Near Earth Object Search (
LONEOS
Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) was a project designed to discover asteroids and comets that orbit near the Earth. The project, funded by NASA, was directed by astronomer Ted Bowell of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizo ...
). The comet reached perihelion, or closest approach to the sun on October 28, 2007.
[
The comet reached 6th magnitude in October, making it easily visible in binoculars, and just barely visible to the naked eye for observers in the Northern Hemisphere, just after sunset in the west. It reached a max brightness of magnitude 5 around perihelion, before starting to slowly dim on its way out of the solar system. It continued to move south in the sky and became visible to southern hemisphere comet chasers in mid November.
The comet was also observed from both the STEREO spacecraft, first by STEREO-B on October 22 and then by STEREO-A for several days starting from October 28]Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
.
References
External links
C/2007 F1 at Cometography
24 Minute telescope Time Lapse
NASA Java Applet Orbital Diagram
20070319
Cometary object articles
20071028
Non-periodic comets
Hyperbolic comets
{{Comet-stub