IRAS-Iraki-Alcock

IRAS–Iraki–Alcock

(i-rah -kee awl -kok) (1983 VII) A comet detected in 1983 by the infrared satellite IRAS and independently by G. Iraki and E. Alcock. It passed only 4.6 × 10⁶ km (0.03 AU) from Earth and just before closest approach it brightened to 2nd magnitude and exceded 3° across. The huge head was highly asymmetrical, with a fan of material spreading out sunwards from the off-centered starlike nucleus (which reached magnitude 12). No normal tail could be seen. Infrared and radar observations provided information on the composition and rotation of the nucleus.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006