Extinct comet

Short description: Comet that lacks typical activity

Comet nucleus of 9P/Tempel as imaged by the NASA Deep Impact space probe. This is not yet extinct but gives some idea of a cometary nucleus

An extinct comet is a comet that has expelled most of its volatile ice and has little left to form a tail and coma. In a dormant comet, rather than being depleted, any remaining volatile components have been sealed beneath an inactive surface layer.

Due to the near lack of a coma and tail, an extinct or dormant comet may resemble an asteroid rather than a comet and blur the distinction between these two classes of small Solar System bodies. When volatile materials such as nitrogen, water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen and methane in the comet nucleus have evaporated away, all that remains is an inert rock or rubble pile. A comet may go through a transition phase as it comes close to extinction.

## Contents

* 1 Nature of extinct comets
* 1.1 Dormant comets
* 2 Distinction between comets and asteroids
* 3 Extinct comets
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Nature of extinct comets

Extinct comets are those that have expelled most of their volatile ice and have little left to form a tail or coma. Over time, most of the volatile material contained in a comet nucleus evaporates away, and the comet becomes a small, dark, inert lump of rock or rubble[1] that can resemble an asteroid.[2]

Disintegration of asteroid P/2013 R3 observed by the Hubble Space Telescope between late-October 2013 and early-January 2014.[3]

Other related types of comet include transition comets, that are close to becoming extinct, such as were looked for in the Hubble search for transition comets.[4] Comets such as C/2001 OG108 (LONEOS) may represent the transition between extinct comets and typical Halley-type comets (periods of 20–200 years) or long period comets (periods longer than 200 years).[5] Minor planets of the group of damocloids have been studied as possible extinct cometary candidates due to the similarity of their orbital parameters with those of Halley-type comets.[5]

### Dormant comets

Dormant comets are those within which volatiles may be sealed, but which have inactive surfaces. For example, 14827 Hypnos may be the nucleus of an extinct comet that is covered by a crust several centimeters thick that prevents any remaining volatiles from outgassing.[6]

The term dormant comet is also used to describe comets that may become active but are not actively outgassing. For example, 60558 Echeclus has previously displayed a cometary coma and thus also has been given the cometary designation 174P/Echeclus. After passing perihelion in early 2008, centaur 52872 Okyrhoe significantly brightened.[7]

## Distinction between comets and asteroids

When discovered, asteroids were seen as a class of objects distinct from comets, and there was no unified term for the two until "small Solar System body" was coined by the IAU in 2006. The main difference between an asteroid and a comet is that a comet shows a coma due to sublimation of near-surface ices by solar radiation. A few objects have ended up being dual-listed because they were first classified as minor planets but later showed evidence of cometary activity. Conversely, some (perhaps all) comets are eventually depleted of their surface volatile ices and develop the appearance of asteroids. A further distinction is that comets typically have more eccentric orbits than most asteroids; most "asteroids" with notably eccentric orbits are probably dormant or extinct comets. Also, they are theorized to be common objects amongst the celestial bodies orbiting close to the Sun.[8]

Roughly six percent of the near-Earth asteroids are thought to be extinct nuclei of comets which no longer experience outgassing.[6][9][10]

## Extinct comets

Don Quixote (apmag 15) near perihelion in 2009. The eccentric (e=0.66) comet-like orbit of Hypnos.

Suspected or hypothesized extinct comets include:

* (137924) 2000 BD19
* 14827 Hypnos[6]
* 2101 Adonis
* 2015 TB145
* 3200 Phaethon[10][11]
* 3552 Don Quixote[10]
* P/2007 R5 (SOHO 1)[8]
* 1996 PW possibly an extinct long-period comet[12]

## See also

* Centaur (minor planet)
* Damocloid asteroid
* List of minor planets and comets visited by spacecraft
* Lost comet

## References

1. ↑ "If comets melt, why do they seem to last for long periods of time?". November 16, 1998. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/if-comets-melt-why-do-the/.
2. ↑ "Frequently asked questions - What is the difference between asteroids and comets?". https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Rosetta/Frequently_asked_questions.
3. ↑ Harrington, James D.; Villard, Ray (6 March 2014). "RELEASE 14-060 NASA's Hubble Telescope Witnesses Asteroid's Mysterious Disintegration". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/march/nasas-hubble-telescope-witnesses-asteroids-mysterious-disintegration-1.
4. ↑ Space Telescope Science Institute (10 September 1992). "Amateur Astronomers Will Use NASA's Hubble Space Telescope". http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1992/23/text/.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Abell, Paul A. (2003). "Physical Characteristics of Asteroid-like Comet Nucleus C/2001 OG108 (LONEOS)". 34th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 34. pp. 1253. Bibcode: 2003LPI....34.1253A.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Whitman, Kathryn; Morbidelli, Alessandro; Jedicke, Robert (2006). "The Size-Frequency Distribution of Dormant Jupiter Family Comets". Icarus 183 (1): 101–114. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.02.016. Bibcode: 2006Icar..183..101W.
7. ↑ Trigo-Rodríguez, Josep M.; García Melendo, Enrique; García-Hernández, D. Aníbal; Davidsson, Björn J. R.; Sánchez, Albert; Rodríguez, Diego (2008). "A continuous follow-up of Centaurs, and dormant comets: looking for cometary activity". European Planetary Science Congress. http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/EPSC2008/00291/EPSC2008-A-00291-1.pdf.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "SOHO's new catch: its first officially periodic comet". European Space Agency. 25 September 2007. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/SOHO_s_new_catch_its_first_officially_periodic_comet.
9. ↑ Morbidelli, Alessandro; Bottke, William F. Jr.; Froeschlé, Christiane; Michel, Patrick (January 2002). "Origin and Evolution of Near-Earth Objects". Asteroids III. University of Arizona Press. pp. 409–422. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1v7zdn4.33. Bibcode: 2002aste.book..409M. http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~bottke/Reprints/Morbidelli-etal_2002_AstIII_NEOs.pdf.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lupishko, Dmitrij F.; di Martino, Mario; Lupishko, T. A. (September 2000). "What the physical properties of near-Earth asteroids tell us about sources of their origin?". Kinematika I Fizika Nebesnykh Tel, Suppl. 3 (3): 213–216. Bibcode: 2000KFNTS...3..213L.
11. ↑ Jewitt, David; Li, Jing (2010). "Activity in Geminid Parent (3200) Phaethon". The Astronomical Journal 140 (5): 1519–1527. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/140/5/1519. Bibcode: 2010AJ....140.1519J.
12. ↑ "New Object Moves Like a Comet But Looks Like an Asteroid". NASA. 22 August 1996. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/new-object-moves-like-a-comet-but-looks-like-an-asteroid/.

## External links

* Fernández, Yanga R.; Jewitt, David C.; Sheppard, Scott S. (June 2001). "Low Albedos Among Extinct Comet Candidates". The Astrophysical Journal 553 (2): L197–L200. doi:10.1086/320689. Bibcode: 2001ApJ...553L.197F.
* Shiga, David (March 5, 2010). "Dark, dangerous asteroids found lurking near Earth". https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18616-dark-dangerous-asteroids-found-lurking-near-earth/.

* v
* t
* e

Comets

| Features|

* Nucleus
* Coma
* Tails
* Antitail
* Comet dust
* Meteor shower

|
|

Types|

* Periodic
* Numbered
* Lost
* Long period
* Halley-type
* Jupiter-family
* Encke-type
* Main-belt
* Non-periodic
* Near-parabolic
* Hyperbolic
* Unknown-orbit
* Great Comet
* Sungrazing (Kreutz)
* Extinct
* Rock
* Exocomet
* Interstellar

Related|

* Naming of comets
* Centaur
* Comet discoverers
* LINEAR
* Extraterrestrial atmosphere
* Oort cloud
* Small Solar System body
* Asteroid

Exploration|

* List of missions to comets
* List of comets visited by spacecraft

Latest|

* 2I/Borisov
* C/2018 C2 (Lemmon)
* C/2017 U7
* 1I/2017 U1 ʻOumuamua
* C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE)
* C/2015 G2 (MASTER)
* C/2015 F5 (SWAN-XingMing)
* C/2015 F3
* C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS)
* C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)
* C/2014 E2 (Jacques)
* C/2013 US10 (Catalina)
* C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring)
* C/2012 S4 (PANSTARRS)
* C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS)

Culture and
speculation|

* Antimatter comet
* Comets in fiction
* list
* Comet vintages

Lists of comets (more)

| Periodic
comets|

| Until 1985
(all)|

* 1P/Halley
* 2P/Encke
* 3D/Biela
* 4P/Faye
* 5D/Brorsen
* 6P/d'Arrest
* 7P/Pons–Winnecke
* 8P/Tuttle
* 9P/Tempel
* 10P/Tempel
* 11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR
* 12P/Pons–Brooks
* 13P/Olbers
* 14P/Wolf
* 15P/Finlay
* 16P/Brooks
* 17P/Holmes
* 18D/Perrine–Mrkos
* 19P/Borrelly
* 20D/Westphal
* 21P/Giacobini–Zinner
* 22P/Kopff
* 23P/Brorsen–Metcalf
* 24P/Schaumasse
* 25D/Neujmin
* 26P/Grigg–Skjellerup
* 27P/Crommelin
* 28P/Neujmin
* 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann
* 30P/Reinmuth
* 31P/Schwassmann–Wachmann
* 32P/Comas Solà
* 33P/Daniel
* 34D/Gale
* 35P/Herschel–Rigollet
* 36P/Whipple
* 37P/Forbes
* 38P/Stephan–Oterma
* 39P/Oterma
* 40P/Väisälä
* 41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresák
* 42P/Neujmin
* 43P/Wolf–Harrington
* 44P/Reinmuth
* 45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková
* 46P/Wirtanen
* 47P/Ashbrook–Jackson
* 48P/Johnson
* 49P/Arend–Rigaux
* 50P/Arend
* 51P/Harrington
* 52P/Harrington–Abell
* 53P/Van Biesbroeck
* 54P/de Vico–Swift–NEAT
* 55P/Tempel–Tuttle
* 56P/Slaughter–Burnham
* 57P/du Toit–Neujmin–Delporte
* 58P/Jackson–Neujmin
* 59P/Kearns–Kwee
* 60P/Tsuchinshan
* 61P/Shajn–Schaldach
* 62P/Tsuchinshan
* 63P/Wild
* 64P/Swift–Gehrels
* 65P/Gunn
* 66P/du Toit
* 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
* 68P/Klemola
* 69P/Taylor
* 70P/Kojima
* 71P/Clark
* 72P/Denning–Fujikawa
* 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann
* 74P/Smirnova–Chernykh
* 75D/Kohoutek
* 76P/West–Kohoutek–Ikemura
* 77P/Longmore
* 78P/Gehrels
* 79P/du Toit–Hartley
* 80P/Peters–Hartley
* 81P/Wild
* 82P/Gehrels
* 83D/Russell
* 84P/Giclas
* 85D/Boethin
* 86P/Wild
* 87P/Bus
* 88P/Howell
* 89P/Russell
* 90P/Gehrels
* 91P/Russell
* 92P/Sanguin
* 93P/Lovas
* 94P/Russell
* 95P/Chiron
* 96P/Machholz
* 97P/Metcalf–Brewington
* 98P/Takamizawa
* 99P/Kowal
* 100P/Hartley
* 101P/Chernykh
* 102P/Shoemaker

|

After 1985
(notable)|

* 103P/Hartley
* 105P/Singer Brewster
* 107P/Wilson–Harrington
* 109P/Swift–Tuttle
* 111P/Helin–Roman–Crockett
* 114P/Wiseman–Skiff
* 128P/Shoemaker–Holt
* 139P/Väisälä–Oterma
* 144P/Kushida
* 147P/Kushida–Muramatsu
* 153P/Ikeya–Zhang
* 163P/NEAT
* 168P/Hergenrother
* 169P/NEAT
* 177P/Barnard
* 178P/Hug–Bell
* 205P/Giacobini
* 209P/LINEAR
* 238P/Read
* 246P/NEAT
* 252P/LINEAR
* 255P/Levy
* 273P/Pons–Gambart
* 276P/Vorobjov
* 289P/Blanpain
* 311P/PANSTARRS
* 322P/SOHO
* 332P/Ikeya-Murakami
* 354P/LINEAR
* 362P
* P/1997 B1 (Kobayashi)
* P/2010 B2 (WISE)
* P/2011 NO1 (Elenin)

Comet-like
asteroids|

* 596 Scheila
* 2060 Chiron (95P)
* 4015 Wilson–Harrington (107P)
* 7968 Elst–Pizarro (133P)
* 165P/LINEAR
* 166P/NEAT
* 167P/CINEOS
* 60558 Echeclus (174P)
* 118401 LINEAR (176P)
* 238P/Read
* 259P/Garradd
* 311P/PANSTARRS
* 324P/La Sagra
* P/2010 A2 (LINEAR)
* P/2012 F5 (Gibbs)
* P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS)
* P/2013 R3 (Catalina-PANSTARRS)
* (300163) 2006 VW139

Lost|

| Recovered|

* 11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR
* 15P/Finlay
* 17P/Holmes
* 27P/Crommelin
* 54P/de Vico–Swift–NEAT
* 55P/Tempel–Tuttle
* 57P/du Toit–Neujmin–Delporte
* 69P/Taylor
* 72P/Denning–Fujikawa
* 80P/Peters–Hartley
* 97P/Metcalf–Brewington
* 107P/Wilson–Harrington
* 109P/Swift–Tuttle
* 113P/Spitaler
* 122P/de Vico
* 157P/Tritton
* 177P/Barnard
* 205P/Giacobini
* 206P/Barnard–Boattini
* 271P/van Houten–Lemmon
* 273P/Pons–Gambart
* 289P/Blanpain

|

Destroyed|

* 3D/Biela
* 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann
* D/1993 F2 (Shoemaker–Levy 9)

Not found|

* D/1770 L1 (Lexell)
* 5D/Brorsen
* 18D/Perrine–Mrkos
* 20D/Westphal
* 25D/Neujmin
* 34D/Gale
* 75D/Kohoutek
* 83D/Russell
* 85D/Boethin

Visited by
spacecraft|

* 21P/Giacobini–Zinner (1985)
* 1P/Halley (1986)
* 26P/Grigg–Skjellerup (1992)
* 19P/Borrelly (2001)
* 81P/Wild (2004)
* 9P/Tempel (2005, 2011)
* C/2006 P1 (2007)
* 103P/Hartley (2010)
* 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (2014)

Non-Periodic
comets
(notable)|

| Until 1910|

* C/-43 K1 (Caesar's Comet)
* X/1106 C1 (Great Comet of 1106)
* C/1577 V1 (Great Comet of 1577)
* C/1652 Y1
* C/1680 V1 (Great Comet of 1680, Kirsch's Comet, Newton's Comet))
* C/1702 H1 (Comet of 1702)
* C/1729 P1 (Comet of 1729, Comet Sarabat)
* C/1743 X1 (Great Comet of 1744, Comet Klinkenberg-Chéseaux)
* C/1760 A1 (Great Comet of 1760)
* C/1769 P1 (Great Comet of 1769)
* C/1807 R1 (Great Comet of 1807)
* C/1811 F1 (Great Comet of 1811)
* C/1819 N1 (Great Comet of 1819)
* C/1823 Y1 (Great Comet of 1823)
* C/1843 D1 (Great March Comet of 1843)
* C/1847 T1 (Miss Mitchell's Comet)
* C/1858 L1 (Comet Donati)
* C/1861 G1 (Comet Thatcher)
* C/1861 J1 (Great Comet of 1861)
* C/1865 B1 (Great Southern Comet of 1865)
* X/1872 X1 (Pogson's Comet)
* C/1874 H1 (Comet Coggia)
* C/1881 K1 (Comet Tebbutt)
* C/1882 R1 (Great Comet of 1882)
* C/1887 B1 (Great Southern Comet of 1887)
* C/1890 V1 (Comet Zona)
* C/1901 G1 (Great Comet of 1901)
* C/1910 A1 (Great January Comet of 1910)

|

After 1910|

* C/1911 O1 (Brooks)
* C/1911 S3 (Beljawsky)
* C/1927 X1 (Skjellerup–Maristany)
* C/1931 P1 (Ryves)
* C/1941 B2 (de Kock-Paraskevopoulos) [de; de]
* C/1947 X1 (Southern Comet) [de; de; C/1947 X1 (Südkomet)]
* C/1948 V1 (Eclipse)
* C/1956 R1 (Arend–Roland)
* C/1957 P1 (Mrkos) [de; de]
* C/1961 O1 (Wilson-Hubbard) [de; de]
* C/1961 R1 (Humason)
* C/1962 C1 (Seki-Lines) [de; de]
* C/1963 R1 (Pereyra)
* C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki)
* C/1969 Y1 (Bennett)
* C/1970 K1 (White–Ortiz–Bolelli)
* C/1973 E1 (Kohoutek)
* C/1975 V1 (West)
* C/1980 E1 (Bowell)
* C/1983 H1 (IRAS–Araki–Alcock)
* C/1989 X1 (Austin)
* C/1989 Y1 (Skorichenko–George)
* C/1992 J1 (Spacewatch–Rabinowitz)
* C/1993 Y1 (McNaught–Russell)
* C/1995 O1 (Hale–Bopp)
* C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)
* C/1997 L1 (Zhu–Balam)
* C/1998 H1 (Stonehouse)
* C/1998 J1 (SOHO)
* C/1999 F1 (Catalina)
* C/1999 S4 (LINEAR)
* C/2000 U5 (LINEAR)
* C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya-Jones)
* C/2001 OG108 (LONEOS)
* C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)
* C/2002 T7 (LINEAR)
* C/2003 A2 (Gleason)
* C/2004 F4 (Bradfield) [de; de]
* C/2004 Q2 (Machholz)
* C/2006 A1 (Pojmański)
* C/2006 M4 (SWAN)
* C/2006 P1 (McNaught)
* C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy)
* C/2007 F1 (LONEOS)
* C/2007 K5 (Lovejoy)
* C/2007 N3 (Lulin)
* C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring)
* C/2007 W1 (Boattini)
* C/2008 Q1 (Matičič)
* C/2009 F6 (Yi–SWAN)
* C/2009 R1 (McNaught)
* C/2010 X1 (Elenin)
* C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)
* C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy)
* C/2012 E2 (SWAN)
* C/2012 F6 (Lemmon)
* C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS)
* C/2012 S1 (ISON)
* C/2012 S4 (PANSTARRS)
* C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring)
* C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy)
* C/2013 US10 (Catalina)
* C/2013 V5 (Oukaimeden)
* C/2014 E2 (Jacques)
* C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)
* C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS)
* C/2015 V2 (Johnson)
* 1I/2017 U1 ʻOumuamua
* C/2017 U7
* C/2018 C2 (Lemmon)
* C/2019 E3 (ATLAS)
* 2I/Borisov

After 1910
(by name)|

* Arend–Roland
* Austin
* Beljawsky
* Bennett
* Boattini
* Bowell
* Bradfield [de; de]
* Brooks
* Catalina
* C/1999 F1
* C/2013 US10
* de Kock–Paraskevopoulos [de; de]
* Eclipse
* Elenin
* Hale-Bopp
* Humason
* Hyakutake
* Ikeya-Seki
* IRAS–Araki–Alcock
* ISON
* Jacques
* Johnson
* Kohoutek
* Lemmon
* C/2012 F6
* C/2018 C2
* LINEAR
* C/1999 S4
* C/2000 U5
* C/2002 T7
* LONEOS
* C/2001 OG108
* C/2007 F1
* Lovejoy
* C/2007 E2
* C/2007 K5
* C/2011 W3
* C/2013 R1
* C/2014 Q2
* Lulin
* Machholz
* Matičič
* McNaught
* C/2006 P1
* C/2009 R1
* McNaught–Russell
* Mrkos [de; de]
* NEAT
* Oukaimeden
* ʻOumuamua
* Pan-STARRS
* C/2011 L4
* C/2012 K1
* C/2012 S4
* 311P
* C/2015 ER61
* Pereyra
* Pojmański
* Ryves
* Seki–Lines [de; de]
* Siding Spring
* C/2007 Q3
* C/2013 A1
* Skjellerup–Maristany
* Skorichenko–George
* SOHO
* Southern [de; de; C/1947 X1 (Südkomet)]
* Spacewatch–Rabinowitz
* Stonehouse
* SWAN
* C/2006 M4
* C/2012 E2
* Utsunomiya–Jones
* West
* White–Ortiz–Bolelli
* Wilson–Hubbard [de; de]
* Yi–SWAN
* Zhu–Balam

* Category
* Commons
* Wikinews

* v
* t
* e

Small Solar System bodies

Minor planets|

* Designation
* Groups
* List
* Moon
* Meanings of names

Asteroid|

* Aten asteroid
* Asteroid belt
* Family
* Jupiter trojan
* Near-Earth
* Spectral types

Distant minor planet|

* Centaur
* Damocloid
* Neptune trojan
* Trans-Neptunian object
* Detached
* Kuiper belt
* Oort cloud
* Scattered disc

Comets|

* Extinct
* Great
* Halley-type
* Hyperbolic
* Long-period
* Lost
* Main-belt
* Near-parabolic
* Periodic
* Sungrazing

Other|

* Meteoroids

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinct comet. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Astronomy:Extinct_comet&oldid=3935164"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template