 Comet C/2020 A2 (Iwamoto) photographed from theZwicky Transient Facility on 19 February 2020. | |
| Discovery[1][2] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Masayuki Iwamoto |
| Discovery site | Tokushima, Japan |
| Discovery date | 8 January 2020 |
| Designations | |
| CK20A020,[2] IF033[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch | 23 February 2020 (JD 2458902.5) |
| Observation arc | 104 days |
| Number of observations | 529 |
| Aphelion | ~2,120 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.978 AU |
| Semi-major axis | ~1,060 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99908 |
| Orbital period | ~34,500 years |
| Inclination | 120.75° |
| 286.38° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 68.209° |
| Mean anomaly | 0.0013° |
| Last perihelion | 8 January 2020 |
| TJupiter | –0.622 |
| EarthMOID | 0.312 AU |
| JupiterMOID | 1.129 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 15.1 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 17.2 |
| 9.6[5] (2020 apparition) | |
Comet Iwamoto, formally designated asC/2020 A2 is a faintnon-periodic comet that was observed between January and April 2020. As of 2025[update], it is the fourth and most recent comet discovered by Japanese astronomer,Masayuki Iwamoto.[6][a]
Masayuki Iwamoto reported a new 14th-magnitude object with cometary features on the night of 8 January 2020, which was moving gradually north within the constellationOphiuchus.[3][b] Nearly five days later,Gennadiy Borisov confirmed the existence of Iwamoto's new comet, reporting that it has a diffusecoma about 40 arcseconds in diameter.[2] Additional observations from theXingming Observatory,Magdalena Ridge Observatory, and other sites between 10 and 14 January 2020 reveal that the comet does not have atail at the time.[7]
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