| Minorplanet: | yes |
| C/2016 R2 | |
| Background: |
|
| Discovery Ref: |  [1] |
| Discovered: | 30 August 2016 |
| Mpc Name: | C/2016 R2 |
| Mp Category: | comet  |
| Orbit Ref: |  [2] |
| Epoch: | 13 October 2018 |
| Observation Arc: | 774 days |
| Eccentricity: | 0.99646 |
| Inclination: | 58.222° |
| Moid: | 1.72 AU |
| Asc Node: | 80.5685° |
| Mean Anomaly: | 359.9932° |
| Arg Peri: | 33.1930° |
| Abs Magnitude: | 8 |
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.[3] 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).[4] It was found to differ from typical comets, and was found to be rich in Carbon monoxide (CO) with a blue coma.[4] The blue color is thought to come from the rich amounts of carbon monoxide being ionized.[5] The comet was also noted to be rich in nitrogen.[6]
The comet was observed by a submillimeter wavelength telescope in the late 2010s.[4]
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.[5] Blue comets are a less common type of comet.[6]