C/2020 F5 (MASTER) is a non-periodic comet discovered on 28 March 2020,[3] by the MASTER auto-detection system near San Juan, Argentina.

C/2020 F5 (MASTER)
Comet MASTER photographed from the Zwicky Transient Facility on 27 September 2021
Discovery[1]
Discovered byMASTER
Discovery date28 March 2020
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch27 March 2022 (JD 2459665.5)
Observation arc1,663 days (4.55 years)
Earliest precovery date16 March 2020
Number of
observations
1,861
Aphelion~1,760 AU
Perihelion4.325 AU
Semi-major axis~880 AU
Eccentricity0.99509
Orbital period~36,000 years (inbound)
~1,800 years (outbound)
Inclination52.257°
350.53°
Argument of
periapsis
310.99°
Mean anomaly0.0139°
Last perihelion23 March 2021
TJupiter1.582
Earth MOID3.515 AU
Jupiter MOID0.162 AU
Comet total
magnitude
(M1)
7.2
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)
9.7

When first discovered there were dubious claims that it might be an interstellar object,[4] but now it is known to have a weakly near-parabolic eccentricity of just 0.99509.[2] Before planetary perturbations the comet had an orbital period of about 36,000 years.

References

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  1. D. W. Green (8 April 2020). "Comet C/2020 F3 (MASTER)". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 4745.
  2. 1 2 "C/2020 F5 (MASTER) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  3. S. Yoshida. "C/2020 F5 (MASTER)". www.aerith.net. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  4. D. Oberhaus (17 April 2020). "So You've Found a Comet With a Weird Orbit". Wired. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
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