 Comet C/2020 M3 (ATLAS) photographed on 21 November 2020 | |
| Discovery[1][2] | |
|---|---|
| Discovery site | ATLAS–MLO (T08) |
| Discovery date | 27 June 2020 |
| Designations | |
| CK20M030 | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch | 26 November 2020 (JD 2459179.5) |
| Observation arc | 348 days |
| Number of observations | 2,344 |
| Aphelion | 52.367 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.268 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 26.817 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.95371 |
| Orbital period | 138.87 years |
| Inclination | 23.474° |
| 71.250° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 328.45° |
| Mean anomaly | 0.223° |
| Last perihelion | 25 October 2020 |
| Next perihelion | ~2159[3] |
| TJupiter | 1.460 |
| EarthMOID | 0.327 AU |
| JupiterMOID | 0.886 AU |
| Physical characteristics[4] | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 14.6 |
| 6.9 (2020 apparition)[5] | |
CometC/2020 M3 (ATLAS) is aHalley-type comet that passed within 0.358 AU (53.6 million km) from Earth on 14 November 2020.[6] It is one of many comets discovered by theAsteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
The comet was first discovered on 27 June 2020 as an asteroid-like object by the 0.5 m (1.6 ft)-telescope at theMauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii as part of the ATLAS survey.[2] Observations in August 2020 revealed that the comet was about 4–5 magnitudes brighter than predicted.[7]
By 8 November 2020, the comet was seen a few degrees east of theHorseshoe andOrion Nebulae.[8] It passed closest to Earth at a distance of 0.358 AU (53.6 million km) on 14 November.[6] By 25 November, the comet was passing through the constellationTaurus, near theCrab Nebula's position.[9]
Observations conducted by theTRAPPIST-North telescope at theOukaïmeden Observatory inMorocco were used to determine the comet's dust production and chemical composition.[10] It was determined that the comet had a typical composition compared to other comets, without any depletion of carbon-chain elements from its coma.[11][12]
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