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C/2012 S4 (PanSTARRS)
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As a comparison, the closest star, Proxima Centauri, is about 4.24 light years from the Sun, and Wolf 359 is 7.78 light years away. Any comet more than about from the Sun can be considered lost to the interstellar medium. Using an epoch when C/2012 S4 (PanSTARRS) is beyond the planetary region of the Solar System, it is clear C/2012 S4 (PanSTARRS) will not be ejected from the Solar System as aphelion is well inside of the Oort cloud. Barycentric orbit Integrating the orbit until the comet is outside the perturbations of the planets generates a barycentric aphelion of ~5700 AU and an orbital period of roughly 150,000 years.<ref name="barycenter"/> It will not be 30 AU from the Sun until 2028. It is estimated to be approximately the same size as 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. |
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