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12P/Pons–Brooks is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 71 years. Comets with an orbital period of 20–200 years are referred to as Halley-type comets. It is one of the brightest known periodic comets, reaching an absolute visual magnitude of about 5 in its approach to perihelion. Comet Pons-Brooks was conclusively discovered at Marseilles Observatory in July 1812 by Jean-Louis Pons, and on its next appearance in 1883 by William Robert Brooks. However it has been confirmed 12P/Pons–Brooks was observed before the 19th century.
16P/Brooks, also known as Brooks 2, is a periodic comet discovered by William Robert Brooks on July 7, 1889, but failed to note any motion. He was able to confirm the discovery the next morning, having seen that the comet had moved north. On August 1, 1889, the famous comet hunter Edward Emerson Barnard discovered two fragments of the comet labeled "B" and "C" located 1 and 4.5 arc minutes away. On August 2, he found another four or five, but these were no longer visible the next day. On August 4, he observed two more objects, labeled "D" and "E". "E" disappeared by the next night and "D" was gone by the next week. Around mid-month, "B" grew large and faint, finally disappearing at the beginning of September. "C" managed to survive until mid-November 1889. The apparition ended on January 13, 1891. After the discovery apparition, the comet has always been over two magnitudes fainter.
Biela's Comet or Comet Biela was a periodic Jupiter-family comet first recorded in 1772 by Montaigne and Messier and finally identified as periodic in 1826 by Wilhelm von Biela. It was subsequently observed to split in two and has not been seen since 1852. As a result, it is currently considered to have been destroyed, although remnants have survived for some time as a meteor shower, the Andromedids which may show increased activity in 2023.
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.
10P/Tempel, also known as Tempel 2, is a periodic Jupiter-family comet with a 5-year orbital period. It was discovered on July 4, 1873 by Wilhelm Tempel. At the perihelion passage on 2 August 2026 the solar elongation is calculated at 164 degrees, with apparent magnitude approximately 8, with closest approach to Earth on 3 August 2026 at a distance of 0.414 AU (61.9 million km).
39P/Oterma is a currently inactive periodic comet with an orbital period of nearly 20 years that stays outside the orbit of Jupiter. The nucleus has a diameter around 4–5 km. It was last observed in August 2021 and came to perihelion in July 2023 while 1.2 AU from Jupiter. It will finish the modest approach to Jupiter in January 2025 and will next come to perihelion in July 2042 at distance of 5.9 AU from the Sun. Opposition has occurred on 11 November 2023.
13P/Olbers is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 69 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with a period between 20 and 200 years. The comet last passed perihelion 30 June 2024 and it was previously seen in 1956. The next perihelion is in 2094.
The Comet of 1729, also known as C/1729 P1 or Comet Sarabat, was an assumed parabolic comet with an absolute magnitude of −3, possibly the brightest ever observed for a comet; it is therefore considered to be potentially the largest comet ever seen. With an assumed eccentricity of 1, it is unknown if this comet will return in a hundred thousand years or be ejected from the Solar System.
Comet Kopff or 22P/Kopff is a periodic comet in the Solar System. Discovered on August 23, 1906, it was named after August Kopff who discovered the comet. The comet was missed on its November 1912 return, but was recovered on its June 1919 return and has been seen at every apparition since. Close approaches to Jupiter in 1938 and 1943 decreased the perihelion distance and orbital period. 22P/Kopff’s last perihelion passage was 18 March 2022. On 13 July 2028 it will pass 0.353 AU (52.8 million km) from Earth.
54P/de Vico–Swift–NEAT is a periodic comet in the Solar System first discovered by Father Francesco de Vico on August 23, 1844. It has become a lost comet several times after its discovery. The comet makes many close approaches to Jupiter. The comet was last observed on 20 December 2009 by Ageo Observatory.
D/1770 L1, popularly known as Lexell's Comet after its orbit computer Anders Johan Lexell, was a comet discovered by astronomer Charles Messier in June 1770. It is notable for having passed closer to Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of only 0.015 astronomical units, or six times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The comet has not been seen since 1770 and is considered a lost comet.
Comet Swift–Tuttle is a large periodic comet with a 1995 (osculating) orbital period of 133 years that is in a 1:11 orbital resonance with Jupiter. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet, which has an orbital period between 20 and 200 years. The comet was independently discovered by Lewis Swift on 16 July 1862 and by Horace Parnell Tuttle on 19 July 1862.
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. It was the first comet discovered with the use of a CCD and also the faintest comet upon discovery up to that point. It has a diameter of 1.6 km.
40P/Väisälä is a periodic comet that was discovered on February 8, 1939. Its orbit was determined on April 26, 1939. In 1994, the diameter of its nucleus was found to be 4.2 km, similar in size to that of Comet Encke.
70P/Kojima is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 7.05 years.
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.
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.
460P/PanSTARRS (also known with the provisional designation P/2016 BA14) is a near-Earth object and periodic comet of the Jupiter family, with an orbital period of 5.25 years. In March 2016 it passed at distance of 2.2 million miles (3.5 million km, or 9 lunar distances) from Earth. It was the closest approach by a comet since 1770 and 3rd closest recorded comet to Earth. The close flyby enabled the size of the nucleus to be calculated at about 1 km (0.62 mi) in diameter, which was much bigger than expected. The comet is very dark, reflecting about 2-3 percent of the visible light, about the same as a charcoal briquette. It has a very similar orbit as numbered comet 252P/LINEAR, and may be related to it (e.g. split off of).
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.
249P/LINEAR is a periodic Jupiter-family comet with an orbital period of 4.61 years. It was discovered by LINEAR on 19 October 2006. It is only active for a brief period around perihelion.
References
- 1 2 3 Kronk, Gary. "D/1894 F1 (Denning)". cometography.com. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ↑ "Small-Body Database Lookup: 489P/Denning". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Green, Daniel (2 August 2024). "COMET P/2007 HE_4 = P/1894 F1 (DENNING)". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 5425.
- ↑ James, Nick (31 July 2024). "W.F. Denning's lost comet has been found". British Astronomical Association. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
