13P/Olbers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

13P/Olbers
Discovery
Discovered by: Heinrich Olbers
Discovery date: March 6, 1815
Alternate designations: 1815 E1; 1887 Q1;
1887 V; 1887f;
1956 A1; 1956 IV;
1956a
Orbital characteristics A
Epoch: 1956-10-14 (JD ?)
Aphelion distance: 32.6351 AU
Perihelion distance: 1.18 AU[1]
Semi-major axis: 16.9067774 AU[2]
Eccentricity: 0.93029715
Orbital period: 69.5 a
Inclination: 44.60989°
Last perihelion: June 19, 1956
Next perihelion: June 30, 2024[3]

13P/Olbers is a periodic comet in our solar system.

Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers (Bremen) discovered the comet on March 6, 1815. Its orbit was first computed by Carl Friedrich Gauss on March 31, Friedrich Bessel calculated an orbital period as 73 a, later as 73.9 a, calculations by other astronomers have resulted anywhere between 72 and 77 a.

The comet was last detected in 1956, it will be closest to the Earth on January 10, 2094.

There is some speculation[4] that 13P/Olbers has an associated meteor shower on Mars coming from the direction of Beta Canis Major.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ F. Selsis, J. Brillet, M. Rapaport, Meteor showers of cometary origin in the Solar System: Revised predictions, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 416, pp. 783-789 (2004) DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20031724
  2. ^ Sofie Spjuth, Search for Comet Ion Tail Encounters - prediction and data analysis (2005)
  3. ^ Yeomans, Donald K.. Horizon Online Ephemeris System. California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  4. ^ Meteor Showers And Their Parent Bodies. Retrieved on 2006-12-30.


Comets
Previous periodic comet 13P/Olbers Next periodic comet
List of periodic comets
Image:Comet icon.svg  This comet related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.