| P/2021 U3 (Attard-Maury) | |
| Semimajor: | 4.22 AU |
| Perihelion: | 1.89 AU |
| Aphelion: | 6.56 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.55 |
| Period: | 8.68 yr |
| Inclination: | 70.05° |
| Asc Node: | 75.10° |
| Discoverer: | Georges Attard and Alain Maury |
| Discovery Date: | October 24, 2021 |
P/2021 U3 (Attard-Maury) is a comet of the Jupiter family discovered on by Georges Attard and Alain Maury..[1] [2] . The comet had a magnitude of at the time of its discovery. It is the second comet discovered using the synthetic tracking technique, using the Tycho software, as part of the MAP Observation Program.[3]
The comet was discovered on October 24, 2021 by Georges Attard, an amateur astronomer from Mougins, and Alain Maury, a former astronomer at the CERGA and the Palomar Observatory, now director of the astronomical resources center Space in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.[4]
See main article: article. To detect near-Earth objects, Alain Maury, Georges Attard, and Daniel Parrott designed the MAP project. This project is based on a method, observation telescopes, processing software, and of course, diligent observers.[5]
The characteristics are detailed in the database of the Minor Planet Center (MPC) and in the database of JPL's Solar System Dynamics group at (Caltech/NASA)[6] [7]
The orbital period is 8 and a half years.[7] Its trajectory can be observed in the small bodies database[8]
The aphelion is 6.56 AU, close to the orbit of Jupiter.[6] [7]