Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Wilhelm Tempel |
Discovery site | Marseille Observatory |
Discovery date | 5 July 1864 |
Designations | |
1864 II | |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch | 28 July 1864 (JD 2402080.5) |
Observation arc | 78 days |
Number of observations | 206 |
Aphelion | 497 AU |
Perihelion | 0.909 AU |
Semi-major axis | 249 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.9964 |
Orbital period | 3,930 years |
Inclination | 178.13° |
97.67° | |
Argument of periapsis | 151.58° |
Last perihelion | 16 August 1864 |
TJupiter | -1.160 |
Earth MOID | 0.0054 AU |
Physical characteristics [2] | |
Comet total magnitude (M1) | 6.2 |
2–3 (1864 apparition) |
C/1864 N1 (Tempel) is a non-periodic comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel on 5 July 1864. It was the first comet whose spectrum was analysed.
The comet was discovered on 5 July 1864 by Wilhelm Tempel, while working in Marseille Observatory, near the star 54 Arietis. He confirmed the discovery the next day. The comet was also independently discovered by Lorenzo Respighi on 6 July and Franciszek Karliński on 11 July. Giovanni Schiaparelli observed the comet on 9 July and described it as round, with a coma 3–4 arcminutes across and an estimated magnitude of 8–9. [2]
The comet was getting brighter as it was approaching both Earth and the Sun. Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt spotted the comet with the naked eye on 28 July and described it as having a coma 10.5 arcminutes across and a tail 0.3° long. On 30 July he estimated the comet's magnitude to be 4. By 7 August the comet had brightened to magnitude 2–3 and featured a tail 11.5° long. The comet approached Earth at a distance of 0.096 astronomical units (14,400,000 km; 8,900,000 mi) on 8 August 1864 and was at a solar elongation of 12°. [2]
After the closest approach the comet appeared in the evening sky. The comet was recovered by Schmidt on 9 August and the next day he estimated its magnitude to be 2–3. Consequently the comet passed perihelion on 16 August. The comet continued to have an apparent magnitude of 4–5 up to the end of August. The comet continued to fade in September as it moved away from both the Earth and the Sun. It was last spotted with the naked eye on 6 September. The comet was last observed on 5 October 1864. [2]
In early August, Giovanni Battista Donati managed to obtain the spectrum of the comet, the first time it was achieved, by using a prism. He found three bright lines which are now known as the Swan band and are associated with carbon. [2]
The comet has a minimum orbital intersection distance with Earth of 0.0054 AU (810,000 km). It has been associated with the weak meteor shower Delta Piscids (#410). [3] [4]
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.
55P/Tempel–Tuttle is a retrograde periodic comet with an orbital period of 33 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with a period of between 20 and 200 years. It was independently discovered by Wilhelm Tempel on 19 December 1865, and by Horace Parnell Tuttle on 6 January 1866. It is the parent body of the Leonid meteor shower.
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.
Comet IRAS–Araki–Alcock is a long-period comet that, in 1983, made the closest known approach to Earth of any comet in the last 200 years, at a distance of about 0.0312 AU.
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.
C/2007 W1 (Boattini) is a non-periodic comet discovered on 20 November 2007, by Andrea Boattini at the Mt. Lemmon Survey. At the peak the comet had an apparent magnitude around 5.
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.
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.
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.
C/1964 N1 (Ikeya), also known as Comet 1964f, is a long-period comet discovered by Kaoru Ikeya on 3 July 1964. The comet last passed perihelion on 1 August 1964, when it reached an apparent magnitude of 2.7.
C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) is a long-period comet discovered by Hideo Nishimura on 12 August 2023. The comet passed perihelion on 17 September 2023 and reached an apparent magnitude of about 2.5.
C/1939 H1 (Jurlof–Achmarof–Hassel) is a long-period comet discovered on 15 April 1939. The comet was discovered by many observers independently but the first reports were those of Olaf Hassel, Achmarof, and Jurlof. The comet had a magnitude of 3 upon discovery.
C/1911 N1 (Kiess) is a non-periodic comet discovered by Carl Clarence Kiess on 6 July 1911. The comet has been identified as the parent body of the Aurigids meteor shower.
C/1961 T1 (Seki) is a long-period comet discovered by Tsutomu Seki on 10 October 1961. The comet has been identified as the parent body of the December ρ-Virginids meteor shower.
C/1975 T2 (Suzuki–Saigusa–Mori) is a long-period comet discovered on 5 October 1975. The comet approached Earth at a distance of 0.1 AU on 31 October 1975 and became visible with naked eye. The comet has been associated with the lambda Ursae Majorids meteor shower.
C/1983 J1 (Sugano–Saigusa–Fujikawa) is a non-periodic comet discovered by Matsuo Sugano, Yoshikazu Saigusa, and Shigehisa Fujikawa on 8 May 1983. The comet approached Earth at a distance of 0.063 AU on 12 June 1983.
C/1991 L3 (Levy) is a periodic comet discovered by David H. Levy on 14 June 1991. The comet has an orbital period of 51 years and thus fits the definition of Halley-type comets, which have orbital periods between 20 and 200 years.
C/1948 L1 (Honda–Bernasconi) is a non-periodic comet discovered on 3 June 1948. The comet was discovered by Minoru Honda and independently found by Giovanni Bernasconi the next day.
C/1853 G1 (Schweizer) is a long period comet discovered by Kaspar Gottfried Schweizer on 5 April 1853. The comet has an orbital period of about 780 years and has been associated with two weak meteor showers.
C/1862 N1 (Schmidt), sometimes referred to as C/1862 N1 (Schmidt–Temple), is a non-periodic comet discovered by Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt on 2 July 1862.