Comet SWAN

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C/2006 M4 is but the most recently discovered of several SWAN comets; the others are C/2002 O6, C/2004 H6, C/2004 V13, C/2005 P3, and the periodic P/SWAN (P/2005 T4).

**C/2006 M4 (SWAN)**
Discovery
C/2006 M4, 25 OCT 2006 from Mt Laguna.
Discovered by:	Robert D. Matson and Michael Mattiazzo
Discovery date:	June 20, 2006
Orbital characteristics ^A
Epoch:	2453754.5
Perihelion distance:	0.132 AU
Eccentricity:	1.0002650
Inclination:	111.82213°
Last perihelion:	September 28, 2006
Next perihelion (predicted):	Hyperbolic trajectory— Oort cloud comet

Comet (SWAN), formally designated C/2006 M4, is a non-periodic comet discovered in late June of 2006 by Robert D. Matson of Irvine, California and Michael Mattiazzo of Adelaide, South Australia in publicly available images of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The comet was officially announced after a ground-based confirmation by Robert McNaught (Siding Spring Survey) on July 12.

Although perihelion was Sept 28, 2006, the comet flared dramatically from seventh magnitude to fourth magnitude on October 24 2006, becoming visible with the naked eye.

Comet SWAN is in a hyperbolic trajectory (osculating eccentricity larger than 1) during its passage through the inner solar system. After leaving the influence of the planets, the eccentricity will drop below 1 and it will retain in the solar system as an Oort cloud comet.