| C/2011 J2 (LINEAR) | |
| Discoverer: | LINEAR (704) |
| Discovery Date: | 4 May 2011 |
| Epoch: | 14 December 2013 |
| Orbit: | Oort cloud |
| Aphelion: | ~50000 AU (inbound) |
| Perihelion: | 3.4434 AU (q) |
| Eccentricity: | 1.00051 |
| Period: | several million years inbound (Barycentric solution for epoch 1950) Ejection trajectory outbound (Barycentric solution for epoch 2050) |
| Inclination: | 122.79° |
| Jupiter Moid: | 0.55 AU |
| Last P: | 25 December 2013 |
C/2011 J2 (LINEAR) is an Oort cloud comet discovered on 4 May 2011 by LINEAR at an apparent magnitude of 19.7 using a 1adj=onNaNadj=on Reflecting telescope. As of September 2014 the comet is around apparent magnitude 17.
C/2011 J2 came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 25 December 2013 at a distance of 3.4 AU from the Sun. On 27 August 2014 an 18th magnitude fragment CK11J02b was detected. Preliminary estimates are that a fragmentation event occurred around 14 July 2014 plus/minus ten days. In mid-July 2014 the comet was 3.9 AU from the Sun.
Fragment C was detected in October 2014 by Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes, and Martino Nicolini.
C/2011 J2 is dynamically new. It came from the Oort cloud with a loosely bound chaotic orbit that was easily perturbed by galactic tides and passing stars. Before entering the planetary region (epoch 1950), C/2011 J2 had an orbital period of several million years. After leaving the planetary region (epoch 2050), it will be on an ejection trajectory.
