86P/Wild

Last updated
86P/Wild
Discovery
Discovered by Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory, Switzerland
Discovery dateApril 1980
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 27 June 2015
Aphelion 4.942 AU
Perihelion 2.2635 AU
Semi-major axis 3.6043 AU
Eccentricity 0.3719
Orbital period 6.84 yr
Inclination 15.47°
Last perihelion7 February 2022 [1]
3 April 2015 [1] [2]
Next perihelion2029-Jan-23 [1]

86P/Wild (pronounced 86P/Vilt) is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 6.84 years. [3]

It was discovered on photographic plates exposed on 11/12 April 1980 by Paul Wild of the Astronomical Institute of University of Bern, Switzerland at the nearby Zimmerwald Observatory. He reported the brightness at a magnitude of 15.5 and that the comet was diffuse. He rediscovered it on 7 May 1980 and calculations by Brian G. Marsden estimated that perihelion would take place on 6 October 1980.

Syuichi Nakano calculated the next perihelion would be 31 August 1987 and the comet was duly observed by Tom Gehrels and J. V. Scotti on the Spacewatch telescope at Kitt Peak Observatory, Arizona, USA. Perihelion was 1 September.

The same team re-observed it in 1994 with a faint brightness of magnitude 21. It has since been observed in 2001, 2008 and 2015.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comet Ikeya–Seki</span> Long-period comet

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 September 18, 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">Tempel 1</span> Jupiter-family comet

Tempel 1 is a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel in 1867. It completes an orbit of the Sun every 5.6 years. Tempel 1 was the target of the Deep Impact space mission, which photographed a deliberate high-speed impact upon the comet in 2005. It was re-visited by the Stardust spacecraft on February 14, 2011, and came back to perihelion in August 2016. On 26 May 2024, it will make a modest approach of 0.55 AU to Jupiter which will lift the perihelion distance and 9P will next come to perihelion on 12 February 2028 when it will be 1.77 AU from the Sun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">77P/Longmore</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

77P/Longmore is a periodic comet in the Solar System, with a period of 6.8 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">78P/Gehrels</span> Periodic comet with 7 year orbit

78P/Gehrels, also known as Gehrels 2, is a Jupiter-family periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 7.22 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">68P/Klemola</span> Periodic comet with 11 year orbit

68P/Klemola or Klemola's Comet is a periodic comet, which belongs to Jupiter's comet family, that was discovered in 1965 by American astronomer Arnold Richard Klemola in Argentinian Yale-Columbia Southern Station. Its orbital period is 10.82 years.

82P/Gehrels is a periodic comet that was discovered on October 27, 1975, by Tom Gehrels at the Palomar Mountain Observatory in California having a faint nuclear brightness of magnitude 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Comet of 1901</span>

The Great Comet of 1901, sometimes known as Comet Viscara, formally designated C/1901 G1, was a comet which became bright in the spring of 1901. Visible exclusively from the southern hemisphere, it was discovered on the morning of April 12, 1901 as a naked-eye object of second magnitude with a short tail. On the day of perihelion passage, the comet's head was reported as deep yellowish in color, trailing a 10-degree tail. It was last seen by the naked eye on May 23.

255P/Levy, formerly P/2006 T1 and P/2011 Y1, is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 5.25 years. It last came to perihelion on 14 January 2012. During the 2006 passage the comet achieved an apparent magnitude of ~9.5. Levy (PK06T010) was believed to have been recovered on 3 June 2011 at magnitude 19.8, but other observatories were unable to confirm a recovery. It was most likely a false positive because of large residuals. Levy was recovered on 17 December 2011 at magnitude 19.8, and given the second designation 2011 Y1. It was then numbered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS)</span>

C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS), also known as Comet PANSTARRS, is a non-periodic comet discovered in June 2011 that became visible to the naked eye when it was near perihelion in March 2013. It was discovered using the Pan-STARRS telescope located near the summit of Haleakalā, on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Comet C/2011 L4 probably took millions of years to come from the Oort cloud. After leaving the planetary region of the Solar System, the post-perihelion orbital period is estimated to be roughly 107000 years. Dust and gas production suggests the comet nucleus is roughly 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) in diameter, while based on the absolute nuclear magnitude and a geometric albedo of 0.04 the diameter of the nucleus is over 2.4 kilometers (1.5 mi). A method based on coma magnitude decay function estimated the effective radius at 2.317 ± 0.190 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy)</span> Kreutz Sungrazer comet

Comet Lovejoy, formally designated C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), is a long-period comet and Kreutz sungrazer. It was discovered in November 2011 by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy. The comet's perihelion took it through the Sun's corona on 16 December 2011, after which it emerged intact, though greatly impacted by the event.

51P/Harrington is a periodic comet in the Solar System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C/2012 F6 (Lemmon)</span>

C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) is a long-period comet discovered in Leo on 23 March 2012, by A. R. Gibbs using the 1.5-m reflector at the Mt. Lemmon Survey, located at the summit of Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, Arizona, USA. Initially, the object was considered to be of asteroidal nature before later observations confirmed its cometary appearance. Comet Lemmon has a highly eccentric orbit, bringing it as close to 0.73 AU from the Sun at perihelion and as far as 973 AU from the Sun at aphelion. This also leads to the comet's long-period nature with an orbital period of approximately 8,000 years based on epoch 2050. The comet last reached perihelion on 24 March 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">58P/Jackson–Neujmin</span> Periodic comet with 8 year orbit

58P/Jackson–Neujmin is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 8.19 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">70P/Kojima</span> Periodic comet with 7 year orbit

70P/Kojima is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 7.05 years.

83D/Russell is a periodic lost comet in the Solar System with an orbital period of about 7.5 years. On the post-1988 orbit the comet probably does not get brighter than about apparent magnitude 21. The comet might come to perihelion in late May 2021, but the uncertainty in the comet's position is a few million km.

79P/du Toit–Hartley or du Toit 2 is a periodic comet, now divided into two parts, in the Solar System with an orbital period of 5.06 years. It next comes to perihelion in September 2023 but is only expected to reach about apparent magnitude 18. It will be less than 90 degrees from the Sun from February 2023 until June 2024. On 26 May 2024 it will be 2.7 AU from the Sun and Earth.

80P/Peters–Hartley is a periodic comet in the Solar System with an orbital period of 8.12 years.

89P/Russell is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 7.28 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C/1957 P1 (Mrkos)</span>

Comet Mrkos, formally known as C/1957 P1, was a non-periodic comet discovered in 1957 by Antonín Mrkos. It was one of two bright comets that had their perihelion in 1957, the other being Comet Arend–Roland. Its peak magnitude was estimated to be around 1 and it has been characterised as a great comet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comet Kohoutek</span> Hyperbolic comet

Comet Kohoutek is a comet that passed close to the Sun towards the end of 1973. Early predictions of the comet's peak brightness suggested that it had the potential to become one of the brightest comets of the 20th century, capturing the attention of the wider public and the press and earning the comet the moniker of "Comet of the Century". Although Kohoutek became rather bright, the comet was ultimately far dimmer than the optimistic projections: its apparent magnitude peaked at only –3 and it was visible for only a short period, quickly dimming below naked-eye visibility by the end of January 1974.

References

  1. 1 2 3 MPC
  2. "86p/Wild 3" . Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  3. "86P/Wild 3". Gary Kronk. Archived from the original on 8 August 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
Numbered comets
Previous
85D/Boethin
86P/WildNext
87P/Bus