63P/Wild

Last updated
63P/Wild
63P 2013-04-04 PTF ImageDownload-3-irsakuops-ptf-5f5c5ffb54-wpzq9---1.png
Comet Wild 1 taken from the Palomar Transient Factory on 4 April 2013
Discovery [1]
Discovered by Paul Wild
Discovery site Zimmerwald Observatory, Switzerland
Discovery date26 March 1960
Designations
P/1960 G1
P/1973 A2
Wild 1
1960b, 1973c
1960 I, 1973 VIII [2]
Orbital characteristics [3]
Epoch 1 March 2014 (JD 2456717.5)
Observation arc 19,491 days (53.36 years)
Number of
observations		1,948
Aphelion 9.2249 AU
Perihelion 1.9506 AU
Semi-major axis 5.5877 AU
Eccentricity 0.65092
Orbital period 13.21 years
Inclination 19.780°
358.002°
Argument of
periapsis 		169.030°
Last perihelion10 April 2013
Next perihelion6 July 2026 [4]
TJupiter 2.412
Earth MOID 0.9603 AU
Jupiter MOID 1.3067 AU
Physical characteristics [3] [5]
Dimensions 2.9 km (1.8 mi)
0.04
(V–R) = 0.50±0.05
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		6.5
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)		14.3

63P/Wild is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 13.21 years. It will next come to perihelion on 6 July 2026.

Contents

Observational history

It was first detected by Paul Wild at the Zimmerwald Observatory of the Astronomical Institute of Bern, Switzerland on a photographic plate exposed on 26 March 1960, who estimated its brightness at a magnitude of 14.3. Its elliptical orbit was then calculated to have an orbital period of 13.17 years. [6]

Its predicted reappearance in 1973 was observed by Elizabeth Roemer of the U.S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona at a magnitude of 17.5. Although not found in 1986 it was rediscovered in 1999 with a magnitude of around 12. The 2013 return was moderately favourable with magnitude again around 12.

The nucleus of the comet has a radius of 2.9 km (1.8 mi), assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04. [7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ J. M. Vinter Hansen (8 April 1960). "Comet Wild (1960b)". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 1719.
  2. ↑ "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  3. 1 2 "63P/Wild – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  4. ↑ "Horizons Batch for 63P/Wild 1 (90000674) on 2026-Jul-06" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 2025-09-29. Retrieved 2025-09-29. (JPL#31, Soln.date: 2014-Feb-19)
  5. ↑ M. M. Knight; R. Kokotanekova; N. H. Samarasinha (2023). "Physical and Surface Properties of Comet Nuclei from Remote Observations". arXiv: 2304.09309 [astro-ph.EP].
  6. ↑ G. W. Kronk. "63P/Wild 1". Cometography.com. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  7. ↑ P. L. Lamy; I. Toth; H. A. Weaver; M. F. A'Hearn; L. Jorda (2009). "Properties of the nuclei and comae of 13 ecliptic comets from Hubble Space Telescope snapshot observations" (PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics. 508 (2): 1045–1056. Bibcode:2009A&A...508.1045L. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/200811462 . S2CID   125249770.
Numbered comets
Previous
62P/Tsuchinshan 		63P/WildNext
64P/Swift–Gehrels
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.