15P/Finlay

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**15P/Finlay**
Discovery
Discovered by:	William Henry Finlay
Discovery date:	September 26, 1886
Alternate designations:	1886 S1; 1886 VII; 1886e; 1893 K1; 1893 III; 1893a; 1906 V; 1906d; 1919 II; 1919d; 1926 V; 1926d; 1953 VII; 1953i; 1960 VIII; 1960d; 1967 IX; 1967g; 1974 X; 1974d; 1981 XII; 1981e; 1988 IX; 1988f
Orbital characteristics ^A
Epoch:	February 15, 2002 (JD )
Aphelion distance:	6.1097 AU
Perihelion distance:	1.0341 AU
Semi-major axis:	3.57 AU
Eccentricity:	0.7105
Orbital period:	6.7507 a
Inclination:	3.674°
Last perihelion:	June 22, 2008
Next perihelion:	2014

Comet Finlay is a periodic comet in our solar system discovered by William Henry Finlay (Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa) on September 26, 1886.

When the first parabolic orbit calculations were made in 1886, there was a similarity between this orbit and that of Francesco de Vico's lost periodic comet of 1844 (54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT). Lewis Boss (Dudley Observatory, Schenectady, USA) noted large discrepancies between the orbits and after further observations concluded that de Vico's comet could not be the same as Finlay's.

The 1899 approach was missed, in 1910 a close pass with Jupiter increased the orbital period, in 1919 the path was off predictions and a "new" comet discovered by Sasaki (Kyoto Observatory, Japan) on October 25, 1919 was in fact discovered to be Finlay's.

The magnitude of the comet declined after 1926, and it was not until 1953 that it has been observed on every return.