205P/Giacobini

Last updated
205P/Giacobini
205P 2021-10-25 image ZTF-sso-381-zr-size-3.5arcminc.png
Comet 205P/Giacobini photographed from the Zwicky Transient Facility on 25 October 2021
Discovery [1]
Discovered by Michel Giacobini
Discovery site Nice, France
Discovery date4 September 1896
Designations
D/1896 R2
P/2008 R6
1896d [2]
1896 V
Orbital characteristics [3] [4]
Epoch 19 February 2014 (JD 2456707.5)
Observation arc 112.05 years
Number of
observations		1,143
Aphelion 5.558 AU
Perihelion 1.536 AU
Semi-major axis 3.547 AU
Eccentricity 0.5669
Orbital period 6.681 years
Inclination 15.287°
179.625°
Argument of
periapsis 		154.257°
Last perihelion13 January 2022 [5]
Next perihelion12 September 2028 [5]
TJupiter 2.779
Earth MOID 0.543 AU
Jupiter MOID 0.373 AU
Physical characteristics [6] [7]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		12.0–18.5
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)		15.7
11.3
(1896 apparition)

205P/Giacobini is a periodic Jupiter-family comet with an orbital period of 6.68 years. It was discovered by Michel Giacobini on 4 September 1896 and then it was lost until it was recovered by Koichi Itagaki on 10 September 2008. The comet was then found to have fragmented into three pieces. [1]

Contents

Observational history

The comet was discovered by Michel Giacobini on 4 September 1896. He described the comet as faint and with a coma about one arcminute across. Other observers confirmed the presence of the comet the next day, and estimated it to have an apparent magnitude of 11.3. The comet was then located in Serpens. [1] The comet subsequently grew fainter and it was last observed on 5 January 1897 by William Hussey. [1] The first elliptical orbit was calculated by Perrotin and Giacobini and indicated an orbital period of 6.65 years and perihelion date on October 28.80. [1]

Starting from 26 September, Henri Perrotin observed an extremely faint companion, indicating that the comet had split. Other observers recorded a second condensation within the comet's coma in late September and early October using the Lick Observatory and an elongated nucleus on 10 October. [1] Zdenek Sekanina estimated the fragment separated from the main nucleus in 24 April 1896, indicating a short-lived companion. [8]

The comet was lost until Koichi Itagaki and Hiroshi Kaneda rediscovered it on 10 September 2008 during their patrol survey for supernovae. The comet then had an apparent magnitude of 13.5, a coma about 25 arcseconds across and a tail about 2 arcminutes long. The comet was initially linked with the comet 1896V by Maik Meyer and the link was confirmed by Nakano. [9] A companion about 4 magnitudes fainter than the primary (nucleus B) was observed on 17 September and one more than 5 magnitudes fainter (nucleus C) was observed on 19 September, further away. [10] Zdenek Sekanina estimated that nucleus B separated in 2006, about 700 days before perihelion, while nucleus C had separated in 1998, before the comet's previous perihelion. [11] The two fragments weren't observed in the 2015 perihelion. [12]

During the next perihelion a secondary nucleus was observed drifting away from the primary, starting 15 October 2021. It is unclear if the secondary is a new fragmentation event or the reactivation of a previously observed fragment. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comet Ikeya–Seki</span> Great Comet of 1965

Comet Ikeya–Seki, formally designated C/1965 S1, 1965 VIII, and 1965f, was a long-period comet discovered independently by Kaoru Ikeya and Tsutomu Seki. First observed as a faint telescopic object on 18 September 1965, the first calculations of its orbit suggested that on October 21, it would pass just 450,000 km (280,000 mi) above the Sun's surface, and would probably become extremely bright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21P/Giacobini–Zinner</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

Comet Giacobini–Zinner is a periodic comet in the Solar System. It was discovered by Michel Giacobini, who observed it in the constellation of Aquarius on 20 December 1900. It was recovered two orbits later by Ernst Zinner, while he was observing variable stars near Beta Scuti on 23 October 1913.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C/1961 R1 (Humason)</span> Non-periodic comet

Comet Humason, formally designated C/1961 R1, was a non-periodic comet discovered by Milton L. Humason on September 1, 1961. Its perihelion was well beyond the orbit of Mars, at 2.133 AU. The outbound orbital period is about 2,516 years. The diameter of its comet nucleus is estimated at 30−41 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Comet of 1882</span> Kreutz sungrazer comet

The Great Comet of 1882, formally designated as C/1882 R1, 1882 II, and 1882b, was a comet which became very bright in September 1882. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a family of comets which pass within 1 R☉ of the Sun's photosphere at perihelion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5D/Brorsen</span> Lost comet

5D/Brorsen was a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered on February 26, 1846, by Danish astronomer Theodor Brorsen. The comet was last seen in 1879 and is now considered lost.

167P/CINEOS (P/2004 PY42) is a large periodic comet and active, grey centaur, approximately 66 kilometers (41 miles) in diameter, orbiting the Sun outside the orbit of Saturn. It was discovered on August 10, 2004, by astronomers with the CINEOS survey at Gran Sasso in Italy. It is one of only a handful known Chiron-type comets.

Ryves's Comet, also known as C/1931 P1, 1931 IV or 1931c, was discovered by Percy Mayow Ryves, an English amateur astronomer, on 10 August 1931. The comet passed perihelion on 25 August 1931 at a distance of 0.075 AU from the Sun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">64P/Swift–Gehrels</span> Periodic comet with 9 year orbit

64P/Swift–Gehrels is a periodic comet in the Solar System which has a current orbital period of 9.23 years.

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.

<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">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">226P/Pigott–LINEAR–Kowalski</span>

226P/Pigott–LINEAR–Kowalski is a Jupiter family periodic comet with an orbital period of 7.3 years. It was discovered by Edward Pigott on 19 November 1783, but was subsequently lost, until it was recovered on 5 January 2003 by Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR). It will next come to perihelion on 27 December 2023 at about apparent magnitude 15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">259P/Garradd</span> Periodic comet with 4.5 year orbit

259P/Garradd is a Jupiter-family comet and active asteroid with an orbital period of 4.5 years. It was discovered in images obtained on 2 September 2008 as part of the Siding Spring Survey by Gordon J. Garradd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Comet of 1947</span> Non-periodic comet

The Southern Comet of 1947 was a bright comet that became visible in the southern hemisphere in December 1947. At that point, it was the brightest comet seen in two decades and is one of the brightest comets seen since 1935, with an estimated maximum apparent magnitude of -3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C/2001 A2 (LINEAR)</span> Non-periodic comet

C/2001 A2 (LINEAR) is a non-periodic comet from the Oort cloud discovered by LINEAR on 15 January 2001. The nucleus of comet split in multiPLe fragments during its perihelion passage. The comet brightened to an apparent magnitude of about 3.

C/1988 A1 (Liller) is a non-periodic comet discovered on 11 January 1988 by William Liller. The comet is part of a family of comets, known as the Liller family, which also includes the comets C/1996 Q1 (Tabur), C/2015 F3 (SWAN), C/2019 Y1 (ATLAS), and C/2023 V5 (Leonard).

Comet Davidson, formal designation C/1889 O1, is a non-periodic comet that became visible to the naked eye in 1889.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 G. W. Kronk. "D/1896 R2 (Giacobini)". Cometography.com. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  3. ↑ "205P/Giacobini – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  4. ↑ "205P/Giacobini-A – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  5. 1 2 S. Yoshida. "205P/Giacobini". www.aerith.net. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  6. ↑ "205P/Giacobini-B – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  7. ↑ "205P/Giacobini-C – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  8. ↑ Z. Sekanina (1979). "Relative motions of fragments of the split comets". Icarus . 38 (2): 300–316. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(79)90185-4.
  9. ↑ D. W. Green (1 September 2008). "Comet P/2008 R6 (Giacobini)". International Astronomical Union Circular. 8975. ISSN   0081-0304.
  10. ↑ D. W. Green (22 September 2008). "Comet 205P/Giacobini". International Astronomical Union Circular. 8978. ISSN   0081-0304.
  11. ↑ D. W. Green (2 October 2008). "Comet 205P/Giacobini". International Astronomical Union Circular. 8987. ISSN   0081-0304.
  12. 1 2 Q. Ye; M. S. P. Kelley (2023). "Fragments of comet 205P/Giacobini in 2021". The Astronomer's Telegram. 16104: 1.

Fragments:

Numbered comets
Previous
204P/LINEAR–NEAT 		205P/GiacobiniNext
206P/Barnard–Boattini
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.