Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Keith Tritton |
Discovery date | February 11, 1978 |
Designations | |
1977 XIII | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch | 2023-02-25 |
Aphelion | 5.519 AU |
Perihelion | 1.572 AU |
Semi-major axis | 3.545 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.5566 |
Orbital period | 6.675 a |
Inclination | 12.42° |
Last perihelion | 2022-Sep-09 [1] June 10, 2016 [2] February 20, 2010 |
Next perihelion | 2028-Mar-07 (B) [3] 2029-May-18 [4] |
157P/Tritton is a periodic comet with a 6-year orbital period. Fragment B was first observed on 21 August 2022. [5]
Keith Tritton (U. K. Schmidt Telescope Unit, Coonabarabran) discovered this comet on a deep IIIa-J exposure made with the 122-cm Schmidt telescope on 1978 February 11.66. [6]
The comet was not detected during the predicted returns of 1984, 1990 or 1996 and was presumed lost. However, on 2003 October 6.44, using CCD images obtained with a 0.12-m refractor, C. W. Juels (Fountain Hills, Arizona, USA) and P. Holvorcem (Campinas, Brazil) detected a comet that proved to be on a similar orbit to the lost comet. B. G. Marsden was able to calculate a new orbit, published in IAU Circular No. 8215, issued 2003 October 7, which confirmed that it was indeed identical to comet Tritton. [6]
The comet was also recovered at its 2010, 2016, and 2022 apparitions. On 2 October 2022 the discovery of a new fragment of the comet was published in MPEC 2022-T23. [5] With a smaller orbit, fragment B should come to perihelion in 2028 March [3] and the primary fragment should come to perihelion in 2029 May [4] (1y 2m 11d later).
Component | Period (years) | Perihelion | Aphelion (AU) | Semi-major axis (AU) | Eccentricity | Inclination | Next Perihelion |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
157P [1] | 6.68 | 1.572 | 5.519 | 3.545 | 0.5566 | 12.42° | 2029-May-18 [4] |
157P-B [7] | 5.49 | 1.552 | 4.671 | 3.111 | 0.5012 | 12.43° | 2028-Mar-07 [3] |
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