19P/Borrelly
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| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | Alphonse Louis Nicolas Borrelly |
| Discovery date: | December 28, 1904 |
| Alternate designations: | 1905 II; 1911 VIII; 1918 IV; 1925 VIII; 1932 IV; 1953 IV; 1960 V; 1967 VIII; 1974 VII; 1981 IV; 1987 XXXIII; 1994 XXX |
| Orbital characteristics A | |
| Epoch: | September 8, 2001 (JD 2452160.5) |
| Aphelion distance: | 5.83 AU |
| Perihelion distance: | 1.35 AU |
| Semi-major axis: | 3.59 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.624 |
| Orbital period: | 6.8 a |
| Inclination: | 30.3° |
| Last perihelion: | September 14, 2001 |
| Next perihelion (predicted): | July 26, 2008 |
Comet Borrelly (formally designated 19P/Borrelly) is a periodic comet, which was visited by the space craft Deep Space 1.
Contents |
[edit] Discovery
The comet was discovered by Alphonse Louis Nicolas Borrelly during a routine search for comets at Marseilles, France on December 28, 1904.
[edit] Nucleus parameters
Diameter: 8×4 km
[edit] Deep Space 1 flyby
On September 21, 2001 the spacecraft Deep Space 1, which was launched to test new equipment in space, performed a fly-by of Borrelly. It was steered toward the comet during the extended mission of the craft, and presented an unexpected bonus for the mission scientists. Despite the failure of a system that helped determine its orientation, Deep Space 1 managed to send back to Earth what were, at the time, the best images and other science data from a comet.
[edit] External links
| Comets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous periodic comet | 19P/Borrelly | Next periodic comet |
| List of periodic comets | ||
