125P/Spacewatch

Last updated
125P/Spacewatch
125P 2024-06-03 image ZTF-sso-442-zr-size-8.5arcmin.png
Discovery
Discovered by Tom Gehrels (Spacewatch)
Discovery dateSeptember 8, 1991
Designations
P/1991 R2, 1990 XXIX, 1991x, P/1996 F1
Orbital characteristics
Epoch March 13, 2013 (2456364.5) [1]
Aphelion 4.730779 AU
Perihelion 1.52546421 AU
Semi-major axis 3.12812162 AU
Eccentricity 0.5123385
Orbital period 5.53 a
2020.8 d
Inclination 9.98579°
Last perihelion7 March 2024 [2]
27 August 2018 [3]
16 February 2013

125P/Spacewatch is a periodic Jupiter-family comet. It was discovered on September 8, 1991, by Tom Gehrels using the 0.91 m Spacewatch telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. [4] It was the first comet discovered with the use of a CCD [5] and also the faintest comet upon discovery up to that point. [4] It has a diameter of 1.6 km. [6]

The comet was discovered in images taken by the 0.91 m Spacewatch telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory by Tom Gehrels on September 8, 1991 as an essentially stellar object with an apparent magnitude of 21, with a tail more than 5 arcminutes long. [7] Brian G. Marsden calculated a parabolic and an elliptical orbit, with the elliptical orbit suggesting an orbital period of 5.58 years and a perihelion date on 18 December 1990. [8]

The comet was recovered on 21 March 1996 by the Spacewatch telescope from James V. Scotti and J. Montani, with an apparent magnitude of 17.6, a tail measuring 0.66 arcminutes long and a coma measuring 15 arcseconds across. The orbit calculated after the recovery indicates an orbital period of 5.56 years. [9] During that apparition the comet experienced an outburst in late July 1996 and brightened to a magnitude of 14.5. [4] During the 2002 apparition the comet brightened to a magnitude of 18. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spacewatch</span> Astronomical survey that specializes in the study of minor planets

The Spacewatch Project is an astronomical survey that specializes in the study of minor planets, including various types of asteroids and comets at University of Arizona telescopes on Kitt Peak near Tucson, Arizona. The Spacewatch Project has been active longer than any other similar currently active programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">65P/Gunn</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

65P/Gunn is a periodic comet in the Solar System which has a current orbital period of 6.79 years. The comet is a short-period comet, orbiting the Sun every 6.79 years inside the main asteroid belt between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">78P/Gehrels</span> Periodic comet with 7 year orbit

78P/Gehrels, also known as Gehrels 2, is a Jupiter-family periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 7.22 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">121P/Shoemaker–Holt</span> Periodic comet with an eight-year orbit

121P/Shoemaker–Holt, also known as Shoemaker-Holt 2, is a periodic comet in the Solar System with an orbital period of about 8 years. The comet was discovered by Carolyn S. Shoemaker, Eugene M. Shoemaker, and Henry E. Holt on 9 March 1989. The comet then had an apparent magnitude of 13, was diffuse and had a tail about 2 arcminutes long. It was recovered by James V. Scotti on 29 August 1995 in images obtained as part of the Spacewatch survey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">173P/Mueller</span> Periodic comet with 13 year orbit

173P/Mueller, also known as Mueller 5, is a periodic comet in the Solar System with an orbital period of 13.6 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">24P/Schaumasse</span> Periodic comet with 8 year orbit

Comet Schaumasse is a periodic comet discovered by Alexandre Schaumasse on 1 December 1911 as 12th magnitude. It next comes to perihelion on 8 January 2026 and should brighten to about magnitude 9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">113P/Spitaler</span> Periodic comet with 7 year orbit

Comet Spitaler is a periodic comet in the Solar System discovered by Rudolf Ferdinand Spitaler on November 17, 1890, while attempting to observe Comet Zona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">112P/Urata–Niijima</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

Comet Urata-Niijima is a periodic comet in the Solar System discovered by Japanese astronomers Tsuneo Niijima and Takeshi Urata on October 30, 1986, at Ojima, the first orbit was calculated by Brian G. Marsden on November 5 giving an orbital period of 6.42 years.

122P/de Vico is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 74 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with. It was discovered by Francesco de Vico in Rome on February 20, 1846.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">70P/Kojima</span> Periodic comet with 7 year orbit

70P/Kojima is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 7.05 years.

86P/Wild is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 6.84 years. Its nucleus is estimated to have an effective radius of 0.37 ± 0.02 kilometers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">252P/LINEAR</span> Periodic comet and near-earth object

Comet 252P/LINEAR is a periodic comet and near-Earth object discovered by the LINEAR survey on April 7, 2000. The comet is a Jupiter family comet, meaning that it passes quite close to the orbit of Jupiter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">104P/Kowal</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

104P/Kowal, also known as Kowal 2, is a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered by Charles T. Kowal in 1979. The orbit was confirmed after new sightings in 1991 and 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">108P/Ciffréo</span>

108P/Ciffréo is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 7 years discovered by Jacqueline Ciffréo on November 8, 1985. The comet is noted for having a peculiar double morphology, in which the nucleus is accompanied by a comoving, detached, diffuse tail, which is probably a perspective artifact of particles ejected sunwards and then repelled by solar wind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">126P/IRAS</span>

126P/IRAS is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 13.4 years. It was discovered in images taken by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) on 28 July 1983 by J. Davies. The discovery was confirmed with images taken with the 1.2-m Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">141P/Machholz</span>

Comet 141P/Machholz or 141P/Machholz 2 is a periodic Jupiter family comet with an orbital period of 5.3 years. It was discovered by Donald Machholz on 13 August 1994. A few days after the discovery a number of condensations were found near the main component of the comet, indicating that the comet had fragmented between 1987 and 1989, during its previous perihelion.

185P/Petriew is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 5.5 years. It was discovered by amateur astronomer Vance Avery Petriew on 18 August 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">207P/NEAT</span> Periodic comet with 8 year orbit

207P/NEAT is a periodic Jupiter-family comet with an orbital period of 7.62 years. It was discovered by Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) on 11 March 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">210P/Christensen</span>

210P/Christensen is a Jupiter family periodic comet with an orbital period of 5.7 years. It was discovered by Eric J. Christensen on 26 May 2003 in images taken by the Catalina Sky Survey and recovered in images obtained by STEREO, the first time a single-apparition comet was recovered by a spacecraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR)</span>

C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR) is a non-periodic comet discovered by LINEAR on 16 December 2000. The comet brightened to an apparent magnitude of about 2.5.

References

  1. ↑ Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "125P/Spacewatch" . Retrieved 2013-06-02.
  2. ↑ "Horizons Batch for 125P/Spacewatch (90001024) on 2024-Mar-07" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons . Retrieved 2023-07-06. (JPL#32 Soln.date: 2019-May-15)
  3. ↑ "125P/Spacewatch Orbit". Minor Planet Center . Retrieved 2014-06-17.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Garty W. Kronk / cometography.com. "125P/Spacewatch" . Retrieved 2013-06-02.
  5. ↑ "SPACEWATCH® News and History". spacewatch.lpl.arizona.edu. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  6. ↑ comets-asteroids.sciencedailys.com. "125P/Spacewatch" . Retrieved 2013-06-02.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ "IAUC 5341: 1991x; 1991o; SATURN". www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu. 10 September 1991. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "IAUC 5343: 1991x; N Her 1991". www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu. 12 September 1991. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  9. ↑ Scotti, J. V.; Montani, J.; Nakano, S.; Marsden, B. G. (1 March 1996). "Comet P/1996 F1 (Spacewatch)". International Astronomical Union Circular. 6349: 1. ISSN   0081-0304.
Numbered comets
Previous
124P/Mrkos 		125P/SpacewatchNext
126P/IRAS
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.