page_title: C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS)
hierarchical_section_title: C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS)
caption_attribution_description: English: Comet C/2016 R2 PanSTARRS on 16/1/2018 Picture Details: Optics 32-inch Schulman Telescope (RC Optical Systems), Acquired remotely Camera SBIG STX 16803 CCD Camera Filters AstroDon Gen II Dates January 16th 2018 Location Mount Lemmon SkyCenter Exposure RGB = 30:30:30 minutes Acquisition ACP Observatory Control Software (DC-3 Dreams), Maxim DL/CCD (Cyanogen), FlatMan XL (Alnitak) Processing PixInsight Credit Line and Copyright Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona
context_page_description: C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) is a comet, discovered using the Pan-STARRS telescopes on September 7, 2016. The comet attracted attention from many astronomers as it approached its closest point to the sun in May 2018. It has been observed to have a very complex tail, which has been suggested to be due to a fast rotation period of the nucleus.
  The comet orbits the Sun on a 20,000 year orbit, which takes it out about 740 AU. It was found to differ from typical comets, and was found to be rich in Carbon monoxide with a blue coma. The blue color is though to come from the rich amounts of carbon monoxide being ionized. The comet was also noted to be rich in nitrogen.
  The comet was observed by a submillimeter wavelength telescope in the late 2010s.
  The comet made its closest approach to the Sun in May 2018, and its blue, teal, and dust tail were noted as an astronomical target. Blue comets are a less common type of comet.
context_section_description: C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) is a comet, discovered using the Pan-STARRS telescopes on September 7, 2016. The comet attracted attention from many astronomers as it approached its closest point to the sun in May 2018. It has been observed to have a very complex tail, which has been suggested to be due to a fast rotation period of the nucleus.
  The comet orbits the Sun on a 20,000 year orbit, which takes it out about 740 AU (Sun-Earth distances). It was found to differ from typical comets, and was found to be rich in Carbon monoxide (CO) with a blue coma. The blue color is though to come from the rich amounts of carbon monoxide being ionized. The comet was also noted to be rich in nitrogen.
  The comet was observed by a submillimeter wavelength telescope in the late 2010s.
  The comet made its closest approach to the Sun in May 2018, and its blue, teal, and dust tail were noted as an astronomical target. Blue comets are a less common type of comet.
caption: The comet on 16 January 2018
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