(meteorobs) Comet P/2006 T1 (LEVY)

[Skywayinc at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/25/06 10:18:31 AM Eastern Standard Time, ast3 at ngs.ru 
writes:

<< Well, I made quick computations of trails from 1975 to 2006. It seems that
 they do not show close direct encounters with the Earth nor in 2006
 neither in 2012. My expectations
 of activity this year have significanly lowered.  >>

MPEC 2006-U91 which was issued late Monday, provides the latest orbital 
elements for Comet P/2006 T1.  The perihelion distance has increased from 0.98926 
to 0.98973.  Moreover . . . integrating forward in time now indicates that 
rather than the comet arriving at its descending node a few days after Earth 
(which would have meant an exceptionally close approach to Earth near the start of 
2012), now the comet apparently does not arrive at the nodal crossing point 
until about three weeks after the Earth.  The new perigee distance would be 
about ten-times greater than the previous elements would have suggested.

And intergrating backward (to 2001) show that the minimum distance between 
the orbits of the Earth and comet have widened slightly from ~0.001 to 0.003 AU.

-- joe rao