Elenin Has Not Survived Perihelion...Or Has It?

reply to post by Phage


ssd.jpl.nasa.gov.../2010%20X1

3600 years is a guess. Also when you put the data into Celestia, its orbit when zoomed out looks like a needle. If it will not pass between the Earth and Sun then where is it going?



Cant get the link to work.
ssd.jpl.nasa.gov...
+
sbdb.cgi?sstr=C/2010%20X1

reply to post by BIGPoJo

The period given on the JPL Orbital Viewer is "N/A". That is because the simple calculations show that it has a hyperbolic orbit, that it won't be back ever. More accurate calculations show that it has a period of around 12,000 years.
home.comcast.net...

Elenin is above the plane of the ecliptic and is getting higher above it. It will not pass between the Earth and the Sun.

reply to post by Phage




In this view it appears to pass between the Earth and the Sun. If we look at it dead on from the side Elenin would still be visible from Earth during the day. It does not eclipse the Sun but its orbit is certainly between the Sun and Earth.

reply to post by BIGPoJo


Elenin will not be visible during the day. The sun is far too bright.
However it (or what's left of it) may be visible in images from SOHO sometime soon.

reply to post by Phage


What if the light from the Sun goes through the coma (if the coma fires back up)? Lots of if's in there but if this thing has a coma as it crosses the daytime sky then I predict we will be able to see it as the light from the Sun filters through it.

reply to post by BIGPoJo


It would really take a monumental once in a lifetime comet like Hale-Bopp to be visible in the day. There has been way too much made of this insignificant comet and it's continuing on and on. I for one can't wait for it to leave and never return again.

Even better, let's hope that it really has disintegrated, so that future generations thousands of years from now don't have to put up with endless amounts of misguided rubbish.

Peekaboo where are you Mr Comet Elenin??



Should be coming in from the left above the sun.

But he isn't

reply to post by Chadwickus


Yep, I've been watching too.

Seems it has either disintegrated or slowed down. Likely the former.

Most logic would suggest that if it broke apart (which it apparently has) that the debris would in fact possibly slow down. This kind of logic is based on a reduced inertia of debris left (smaller individual parts) so the sun's gravity would have a greater effect at slowing down smaller pieces traveling away from the sun's gravity. Yes?

If the sun is 6800 km wide , how would we see it on the pic chadwickus has linked ? or see any debris ?

Could someone please also explain
1 who is the planet moving to the right of image ?

2 what is the shadow bottom left?

also are we relying on jpl for dates ? we had heard it was a few days late ?

reply to post by ZIPMATT


1. I think the planet is Mercury.

2. The shadow is an extended leg holding the lens cover in the center of the telescope.

reply to post by ZIPMATT


JPL displays IAU data from Harvard University, a few days late for what? Very confusing reply.

reply to post by OnWhiteMars


Thanks I found out for myself it was mercury on jpl .

Also , shadow , got it .

@illustronic

We had heard the dates were not very accurate , citing Harvard does not inspire faith , but it was Leonid who said they were based on observations hence unpredictable .
jpl , if was 3 days late , or even 24 days , then....

may explain cme direction of 22nd ?
retarded progress may explain lack of soho image ?
yu 55 meets c2010x1 leaving the ecliptic ?
3 days out would make a close old call .

Its only questions , even if those of the uninformed ignorant .

I don't think a CME would retard the progression of a celestial body. It may be just me, but I thought the CME hit Elenin before perihelion, thus if it broke it up logic would suggest an increased speed of the debris due to lost inertia of mass, from the sun's gravity. Smaller inertial momentum would have less resistance to be drawn into the sun, thus debris would speed it's assention towards the sun more after breakup than before. It's why Jupiter has a stable orbit around the sun, because of its mass.

reply to post by Illustronic


If a CME has the force to cause a break-up, surely it can deter it's orbital path???

reply to post by LightAssassin

It is not known if the CME caused the disintegration. Most comets disintegrate without the need of a CME.
The orbit of the comet did not change after the CME or the beginning of the disintegration.
It is an ex-comet.

Please somebody with more knowledge, guide me through my dilemma. I'm not ashamed to admit that I have been intrigued by this hype that a long-distance visitor named Elenin has triggered. It's been a nice ride and by filtering out the most outrageous, over the top claims, I've even learned a lot regarding mythology, history, astronomy and so on... There's a certain void in me that has been filled with excitement because of a possible major class event. At the end of the day, a plain 'only facts' -day is far more duller than one with imagination in it.

My dilemma is: I understand that the comet (nucleus) itself may not have survived perihelion, and has faded enough to not be visible in SOHO. But however, please explain to me what happened with the tail, full of debris. Shouldn't it be visible to some degree? Or was it blown away by a CME?

Originally posted by OnWhiteMars
Please somebody with more knowledge, guide me through my dilemma. I'm not ashamed to admit that I have been intrigued by this hype that a long-distance visitor named Elenin has triggered. It's been a nice ride and by filtering out the most outrageous, over the top claims, I've even learned a lot regarding mythology, history, astronomy and so on... There's a certain void in me that has been filled with excitement because of a possible major class event. At the end of the day, a plain 'only facts' -day is far more duller than one with imagination in it.

My dilemma is: I understand that the comet (nucleus) itself may not have survived perihelion, and has faded enough to not be visible in SOHO. But however, please explain to me what happened with the tail, full of debris. Shouldn't it be visible to some degree? Or was it blown away by a CME?

I'm wondering the same thing. Also why does JPL small body data still show it on track? Is it there or not? If it's gone, why not say it's gone. I've been to JPL and NASA site and cannot find anywhere saying that it's gone. Has there been an official announcement or is it the comet that just "disappeared"

Originally posted by favouriteslave

Originally posted by OnWhiteMars
Please somebody with more knowledge, guide me through my dilemma. I'm not ashamed to admit that I have been intrigued by this hype that a long-distance visitor named Elenin has triggered. It's been a nice ride and by filtering out the most outrageous, over the top claims, I've even learned a lot regarding mythology, history, astronomy and so on... There's a certain void in me that has been filled with excitement because of a possible major class event. At the end of the day, a plain 'only facts' -day is far more duller than one with imagination in it.

My dilemma is: I understand that the comet (nucleus) itself may not have survived perihelion, and has faded enough to not be visible in SOHO. But however, please explain to me what happened with the tail, full of debris. Shouldn't it be visible to some degree? Or was it blown away by a CME?

I'm wondering the same thing. Also why does JPL small body data still show it on track? Is it there or not? If it's gone, why not say it's gone. I've been to JPL and NASA site and cannot find anywhere saying that it's gone. Has there been an official announcement or is it the comet that just "disappeared"

C/2009 O1 started disintegrating on or before March 12, 2010, as observed by amateurs who were watching it. JPL still shows its orbit, which includes astrometric observations as late as March 31st. They don't delete the orbital data just because it disintegrated, it will remain up there indefinitely regardless. When a comet disintegrates the material it was composed of disperses along the original orbit over time, and as it disperses it becomes more diffuse and more difficult to observe until finally nothing can be seen.
ssd.jpl.nasa.gov...
If you want to know if a comet has disintegrated or not, amateur astronomers are generally the best source to go to since we keep close tabs on every comet currently visible, much moreso than even professional astronomers do. Amateurs are generally the first to report on a comet's demise.