141P/Machholz

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141P/Machholz
141P 2021-01-10 image ZTF-sso-395-zg-size-13arcmin.png
Comet Machholz 2 photographed from the Zwicky Transient Facility on 10 January 2021
Discovery [1]
Discovered by Donald E. Machholz
Discovery date13 August 1994
Designations
P/1994 P1, P/1999 P1
  • Machholz 2
  • 1994 XXVI, 1994o
Orbital characteristics [2] [3]
Epoch 30 April 2026 (JD 2461160.5)
Observation arc 26.61 years
Number of
observations		1,815
Aphelion 5.305 AU
Perihelion 0.807 AU
Semi-major axis 3.056 AU
Eccentricity 0.73581
Orbital period 5.343 years
Inclination 13.961°
241.77°
Argument of
periapsis 		153.65°
Mean anomaly 1.266°
Last perihelion15 December 2020
Next perihelion23 April 2026
TJupiter 2.709
Earth MOID 0.099 AU
Jupiter MOID 0.559 AU
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
0.25 km (0.16 mi) (A) [4]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		17.3

Comet 141P/Machholz or 141P/Machholz 2 is a Jupiter-family comet with an orbital period of 5.3 years. It was discovered by Donald Machholz on 13 August 1994. [5] 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. [6]

Contents

Observational history

The comet was discovered visually on 13 August 1994 by Donald E. Machholz, using a 0.25m reflector telescope. [5] The comet then had an estimated apparent magnitude of 10. [1] On 18 August 1994, Michael Jäger reported that a fragment was located 48 arcminutes northeast of the comet. [7] Three more fragments were then found. [8] The fragments were given the letters A to E, [9] with A being the main component. Component D was found to be split in two on 5 October 1994, with the two components being 7 arcseconds apart. [10] The fragments formed two groups; And B formed the southern group and C, D, and E formed the north group. A dust trail connected all the components. [6] Fragment B faded rapidly in November 1994 while fragment D was observed during the 1999 apparition. [11]

Zdenek Sekanina estimated that the first break-up of the comet took place in late 1987, about 600 days before the 1989 perihelion, that lead to the creation of fragment B. The next break-up event took place around the 1989 perihelion and lead to the creation of fragments C and D. Fragment D split 600 days after perihelion, leading to the creation of fragment E. Fragment D split further during the 1994 perihelion. [6]

Fragment A was recovered by Robert H. McNaught at Siding Spring Observatory on 3 August 1999 as a stellar object, while no other fragment was visible at that point. [12] During the 2015 apparition one more fragment was found, fragment H. It was originally considered to be a new comet, but further observations led to it being linked with 141P/Machholz. [11] During the 2020-21 apparition one more fragment was found, fragment I. [13] The comet experienced an outburst on 3 March 2021, during which it brightened by 2.8 magnitudes. [14]

Orbit and meteor showers

The orbit of the comet is currently stable, lying at a 9:4 orbital resonance with Jupiter. Meteor streams from the comet intersected with the orbit of Earth during the 18th and 19th century but currently no meteor showers associated with the comet are predicted. [15] On 13 December 2036 the comet will pass 0.127 AU (19.0 million km) from Earth. An even closer approach is calculated to have taken place on 25 December 1978, when the comet passed about 0.11 AU (16 million km) from Earth. [2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 D. E. Machholz; T. Kojima; S. Nakano (13 August 1994). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet Machholz (1994o)". IAU Circular. 6053 (1). Bibcode:1994IAUC.6053....1M. ISSN   0081-0304.
  2. 1 2 "141P/Machholz 2 – Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  3. ↑ "141P/Machholz Orbit". Minor Planet Center . Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  4. ↑ J. A. Fernández; A. Sosa (2015). "Jupiter family comets in near-Earth orbits: Are some of them interlopers from the asteroid belt?". Planetary & Space Science. 118: 14–24. Bibcode:2015P&SS..118...14F. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2015.07.010.
  5. 1 2 D. E. Machholz (13 August 1994). "The Discovery of Periodic Comet Machholz 2, P/141" (PDF). Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 Z. Sekanina (1999). "Multiple fragmentation of comet Machholz 2 (P/1994 P1)". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 342: 285–299. Bibcode:1999A&A...342..285S. ISSN   0004-6361.
  7. ↑ H. Luthen; M. Jager; M. Varady; et al. (30 August 1994). D. W. Green (ed.). "Periodic Comet Machholz 2 (1994o)". IAU Circular. 6066 (1). Bibcode:1994IAUC.6066....1L. ISSN   0081-0304.
  8. ↑ P. Pravec; W. Johnson; T. Puckett; et al. (6 September 1994). D. W. Green (ed.). "Periodic Comet Machholz 2 (1994o)". IAU Circular. 6071 (3). Bibcode:1994IAUC.6071....3P. ISSN   0081-0304.
  9. ↑ R. A. Keen; C. S. Morris (21 September 1994). D. W. Green (ed.). "Periodic Comet Machholz 2 (1994o)". IAU Circular. 6081 (1). Bibcode:1994IAUC.6081....1K. ISSN   0081-0304.
  10. ↑ P. Pravec; A. Hale; C. S. Morris; et al. (6 October 1994). B. G. Marsden (ed.). "Periodic Comet Machholz 2 (1994o)". IAU Circular. 6090 (1). Bibcode:1994IAUC.6090....1P. ISSN   0081-0304.
  11. 1 2 W. Hasubick; H. Abe; et al. (6 September 2015). G. V. Williams (ed.). "Comet 141P-H/Machholz". Minor Planet Electronic Circulars. 2015-R12. ISSN   1523-6714.
  12. ↑ R. H. McNaught (4 August 1999). B. G. Marsden (ed.). "Comet P/1999 P1 (Machholz 2)". IAU Circular. 7231 (2). Bibcode:1999IAUC.7231....2M. ISSN   0081-0304.
  13. ↑ M. Jäger; E. Prosperi; S. Prosperi (28 September 2022). "New Comet Fragment 141P/Machholz I". Minor Planet Electronic Circulars. 2022-S308. ISSN   1523-6714.
  14. ↑ A. F. Gillan; A. Fitzsimmons; L. Denneau; et al. (2024). "Dust Production Rates in Jupiter-family Comets: A Two Year Study with ATLAS Photometry". The Planetary Science Journal. 5 (1): 25. arXiv: 2312.06817 . Bibcode:2024PSJ.....5...25G. doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ad1394 .
  15. ↑ D. J. Asher; D. I. Steel (1996). "The orbital evolution of P/Machholz 2 and its debris" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 280 (4): 1201–1209. Bibcode:1996MNRAS.280.1201A. doi: 10.1093/mnras/280.4.1201 .
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