| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | Minoru Honda |
| Discovery date: | December 3, 1948 |
| Orbital characteristics A | |
| Epoch: | 2011-Jun-08 (JD 2455720.5) |
| Aphelion: | 5.511 AU |
| Perihelion: | 0.5296 AU |
| Semi-major axis: | 3.0205 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.8246 |
| Orbital period: | 5.25 yr |
| Inclination: | 4.257° |
| Last perihelion: | September 28, 2011[1] June 29, 2006[2][3] March 29, 2001 December 25, 1995 |
| Next perihelion: | 2016-Dec-29 |
45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková is a short-period comet discovered by Minoru Honda December 3, 1948.[4] The comet is named after Minoru Honda, Antonín Mrkos, and Ľudmila Pajdušáková. The comet is on a elliptical orbit with a period of 5.26 years.[1] The comet nucleus is estimated to be 0.5-1.6 kilometers in diameter.[1][5] During the 2011 perihelion passage the comet was recovered on 5 June 2011 at apparent magnitude 21.[6] On 8 July 2011 the comet had a magnitude of approximately 18,[7] and as of 22 July 2011 the comet's nuclear condensation had a magnitude of approximately 16.[8] The comet is expected to reach a peak magnitude of around 7.3 in late September when it is near perihelion.[9]
The comet made a close approach of only 0.0600 AU (8,980,000 km; 5,580,000 mi) from the Earth on August 15, 2011,[10][11] and was studied by the Goldstone Deep Space Network on August 19 and 20.[5] Goldstone radar observations on 2011 August 19 and 20 detected echoes from the nucleus and coma.[12] This is only the fifteenth comet that has been detected with radar.[12] The comet will also pass close to Earth on February 11, 2017.[10]
During the 1995 perihelion passage the comet was visible to Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) on January 16, 1996 when the comet was around apparent magnitude 7 and 4.3° from the Sun.[4]
| Periodic comets (by number) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous 44P/Reinmuth |
45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková | Next 46P/Wirtanen |
