85P/Boethin

85P/Boethin
Discovery
Discovered by Leo Boethin
Discovery date January 4, 1975
Alternative
designations
85P/1975 A1; 1975 I; 1975a; 85P/1985 T2; 1986 I; 1985n
Orbital characteristics A
Epoch January 10, 1986
(JD 2446440.5)
Aphelion 20.7560 AU
Perihelion 1.1143 AU
Semi-major axis 11.67560 AU
Eccentricity 0.7777
Orbital period 11.225 a
Inclination 5.756°
Last perihelion December 16, 2008[1] (unobserved)
Next perihelion 2020 (lost?)

Comet Boethin (officially 85P/Boethin) is a periodic comet discovered in 1975 by Leo Boethin. It appeared again in 1986 January as expected. Although the comet was next expected at perihelion on 1997 April, no observations were reported.

It was to be a target of NASA's EPOXI comet-exploration mission in December 2008; however, the comet was not recovered in time to set up the trajectory for the flyby with sufficient accuracy. It is thought that the comet may have broken into pieces too small for visual detection.[2]

References

  1. Syuichi Nakano (2005-07-26). "85P/Boethin (NK 1210)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  2. NASA and the Case of the Missing Comet

External links

Periodic comets (by number)
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