27P/Crommelin
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| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | J. L. Pons |
| Discovery date: | February 23, 1818 |
| Alternate designations: | 1818 D1, 1873 V1, 1928 W1, 1956 S1 |
| Orbital characteristics A | |
| Epoch: | March 1, 1984 |
| Perihelion distance: | 0.735 AU |
| Semi-major axis: | 9.09 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.919 |
| Orbital period: | 27.4 a |
| Inclination: | 29.1° |
| Last perihelion: | February 20, 1984 |
| Next perihelion (predicted): | August 3, 2011 |
Comet Crommelin, also known as Comet Pons-Coggia-Winnecke-Forbes, is a periodic comet in the solar system named after the British astronomer A. C. D. Crommelin who calculated its orbit in 1930.
The first observation was by Jean-Louis Pons (Marseille, France) on February 23, 1818, he followed the comet up until February 27 but was prevented further by bad weather. Johann Franz Encke attempted to calculate the orbit but was left with very large errors.
In 1872, J. R. Hind produced a rough orbital calculation and observed it was close to that of Comet Biela, based on these observations, Edmund Weiss later speculated it may have been part of Biela's comet.
The next observation was on November 10, 1873 by J. E. Coggia (Marseille, France), and again on November 11 by F. A. T. Winnecke (Strasbourg, France), but it was lost by November 16. Weiss and Hind took up the calculations and tried to match it again with the 1818 appearance.
A third discovery was by Alexander Forbes (Capetown, South Africa) on November 19, 1928, and confirmed by Harry Edwin Wood (Union Observatory, South Africa) on November 21. It was A. C. D. Crommelin who eventually established the orbit and finally linked the 1818 (Pons) and 1873 (Coggia-Winnecke) comets to it.
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