210P/Christensen
210P/Christensen is a Jupiter family comet with an orbital period of 5.7 years. It was discovered by Eric J. Christensen on 26 May 2003 in images taken by the Catalina Sky Survey and recovered in images obtained by STEREO, the first time a single-apparition comet was recovered by a spacecraft.
Key facts
- Comet.name
- 210P/Christensen
- Comet.image
- 210P Christensen 2025-12-01.jpg
- Comet.caption
- Comet 210P/Christensen imaged from an 8-in reflector on 1 December 2025
- Comet.discoverer
- Eric J. Christensen
- Comet.discovery_site
- Catalina Sky Survey
- Comet.discovery_date
- 26 May 2003
- Comet.mpc_name
- P/2003 K2, P/2008 X4
- Comet.epoch
- 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5)
- Comet.observation_arc
- 22.35 years
- Comet.obs
- 947
- Comet.perihelion
- 0.524 AU
- Comet.aphelion
- 5.797 AU
Article
3 sectionsContents
- Observational history
- References
- External links
210P/Christensen is a Jupiter family comet with an orbital period of 5.7 years. It was discovered by Eric J. Christensen on 26 May 2003 in images taken by the Catalina Sky Survey and recovered in images obtained by STEREO, the first time a single-apparition comet was recovered by a spacecraft.
== Observational history == Eric J. Christensen discovered the comet on 26 May 2003 in images taken with the 0.7-m Schmidt telescope of the Catalina Sky Survey. The comet had an estimated magnitude of 14.6 and a coma with an estimated diameter between 10 and 35 arcseconds and a faint tail. Further observations revealed the comet had a short orbital period.