Comet Tucker, formally designated as C/2004 Q1, is a faint non-periodic comet that had a very distant perihelion on 11 December 2004. It was the second of two comets discovered by famed amateur astronomer, Roy A. Tucker.
Discovery and observations Roy A. Tucker discovered the comet as a diffuse magnitude 14.6 object in the constellation Cetus on 23 August 2004, using a 0.35 m (14 in) reflector telescope. Images on 25 August show a 30" coma and a tail measuring 70" in length. Observations from Spain in the next day reported that it was 12.9 in apparent magnitude. It steadily brightened in the following months until it reached perihelion in December 2004, although it did not get any closer to the inner Solar System, resulting in a peak magnitude of 10.5. Orbital calculations by Brian G. Marsden revealed that C/2004 Q1 might not be a "new" comet from the Oort cloud, noting its trajectory as dynamically old. It was last observed on 4 May 2005.
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References
External links C/2004 Q1 at the JPL Small-Body Database