82P/Gehrels

82P/Gehrels

Discovery
Discovered by	Tom Gehrels
Discovery date	October 27, 1975
Designations
Alternative designations	Gehrels 3
Orbital characteristics
Epoch	2011-Feb-08 2455600.5
Aphelion	4.6509 AU
Perihelion	3.6333 AU[1]
Semi-major axis	4.1421 AU
Eccentricity	0.12284
Orbital period	8.43 a
Inclination	1.1259°
Last perihelion	2018 June 28[2][3] 2010-Jan-12[1]
Next perihelion	2026-Nov-14[4]

82P/Gehrels is a periodic comet that was discovered on October 27, 1975, by Tom Gehrels at the Palomar Mountain Observatory in California having a faint nuclear brightness of magnitude 17.^[1]

Calculations based on the early sightings gave an estimated perihelion of 23 April 1975 and an orbital period of 8.11 years. It was observed by J. Gibson on its next predicted apparition in 1984, using the 122-cm Schmidt at Palomar, when he estimated the nuclear brightness at a very faint magnitude 20. It has since been observed in 1993, 2001 and 2010.^[5]

The object has been identified as a quasi-Hilda comet, which means it is near a 3:2 mean-motion resonance with the planet Jupiter.^[6] It fits the definition of an Encke-type comet with (T_Jupiter > 3; a < a_Jupiter).^[1] It has an estimated diameter of 1.46 km.^[7]

On 15 August 1970 the comet passed 0.00143 AU (214,000 km; 133,000 mi) from Jupiter.^[1]

Add list

• List of numbered comets

References

1. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 82P/Gehrels 3" (2011-03-14 last obs). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 2020-07-26. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
2. Seiichi Yoshida (2011-07-03). "82P/Gehrels 3". Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
3. Patrick Rocher (2011-03-23). "Note number : 0090 P/Gehrels 3 : 82P". Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
4. "Horizons Batch for 82P/Gehrels 3 (90000860) on 2026-Nov-14" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2022-06-27. (JPL#19 Soln.date: 2021-Mar-19)
5. "82P/Gehrels 3/publisher= Cometography". Archived from the original on 8 August 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
6. Ohtsuka, K.; Ito, T.; Yoshikawa, M.; Asher, D. J.; Arakida, H. (1 October 2008). "Quasi-Hilda comet 147P/Kushida-Muramatsu. Another long temporary satellite capture by Jupiter". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 489 (3): 1355–1362. arXiv:0808.2277. Bibcode:2008A&A...489.1355O. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:200810321. S2CID 14201751.
7. Lamy, P. L.; Toth, I.; Fernandez, Y. R.; Weaver, H. A. (2004). "The sizes, shapes, albedos, and colors of cometary nuclei". In M. C. Festou; H. U. Keller; H. A. Weaver (eds.). Comets II. Bibcode:2004come.book..223L.

External links

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Horizons Ephemeris

Numbered comets
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