17P/Holmes

**17P/Holmes**
Discovery
Discovered by:	Edwin Holmes
Discovery date:	November 6, 1892
Alternate designations:	1892 V1; 1892 III; 1892f; 1899 L1; 1899 II; 1899d; 1906 III; 1906f; 1964 O1; 1964 X; 1964i; 1972 I; 1971b; 1979 IV; 1979f; 1986 V; 1986f; 1993 VII; 1993i
Orbital characteristics ^A
Epoch:	September 22, 2006 (JD 2454000.5)
Aphelion distance:	5.2004 AU
Perihelion distance:	2.1655 AU
Semi-major axis:	3.618 AU
Eccentricity:	0.4120
Orbital period:	7.0679 a
Inclination:	19.1877°
Last perihelion:	May 11, 2000
Next perihelion (predicted):	May 4, 2007

17P/Holmes is a periodic comet in our solar system discovered by Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892 whilst conducting regular observations of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). It was confirmed by Edward Walter Maunder (Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England), William Henry Maw (England), and Kidd (Bramley, England).

The comet was independently discovered by Thomas David Anderson (Edinburgh, Scotland) on November 8 and by John Ewen Davidson (Mackay, Queensland, Australia) on November 9^[1] (who had previously, on 19 July 1889, discovered C/1889 O1, the first comet discovery from Queensland).

The first elliptical orbits were independently calculated by Heinrich Kreutz and George Mary Searle. Additional orbits eventually established the perihelion date as June 13 and the orbital period as 6.9 years. These calculations proved that this comet was not a return of 3D/Biela.

The 1899 and 1906 appearances were observed, but the comet was lost after 1906 until recovered on July 16, 1964 by Elizabeth Roemer (US Naval Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA) aided by computer predictions by Brian G. Marsden, the comet has been observed on every return since.