Comet Machholz
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- There are five other long-period comets named Machholz: C/1978 R3 (a.k.a. 1978 XIII, 1978l), C/1985 K1 (a.k.a. 1985 VIII, 1985e), C/1988 P1 (a.k.a. 1988 XV, 1988j), C/1992 N1 (a.k.a. 1992 XVII, 1992k) and C/1994 T1 (a.k.a. 1994 XXVII, 1994r).
 Comet Machholz in February 2005 |
|
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | Donald Machholz |
| Discovery date: | 2004 |
| Alternate designations: | Comet Machholz |
| Orbital characteristics A | |
| Epoch: | 2453415.5 (February 14, 2005 |
| Aphelion distance: | 4686 AU |
| Perihelion distance: | 1.205 AU |
| Semi-major axis: | 2344 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.9995 |
| Orbital period: | 113,465 a |
| Inclination: | 38.6° |
| Last perihelion: | January 24, 2005 |
| Next perihelion (predicted): | 115470 |
Comet Machholz, formally designated C/2004 Q2, was a comet discovered by Donald Machholz on August 27, 2004.
It reached naked eye brightness in January 2005. Unusually for such a relatively bright comet, its perihelion was farther from the Sun than the Earth's orbit.
[edit] Return
While this comet will almost certainly return, its extremely large orbit will not bring it back to the inner solar system until roundabout the year 111,348.
[edit] See also
- 96P/Machholz (a.k.a. 1986 VIII, 1986e, 1991 XII)
- 141P/Machholz 2 (a.k.a. 1994 XXVI, 1994o)
- C/1992 F1 (a.k.a. 1992 X, 1992d), Comet Tanaka-Machholz
- C/1994 N1 (a.k.a. 1994 XX, 1994m), Comet Nakamura-Nishimura-Machholz
