64P/Swift–Gehrels

64P/Swift–Gehrels is a periodic comet in the Solar System which has a current orbital period of 9.23 years.

64P/Swift-Gehrels
Discovery
Discovered byLewis A. Swift
Tom Gehrels
Discovery date17 November 1889
8 February 1973
Designations
Swift 1
Orbital characteristics
Aphelion7.5231 AU
Perihelion1.3932 AU
Semi-major axis4.4582 AU
Eccentricity0.687
Orbital period9.41 a
Inclination8.9487°
Last perihelion2018-Nov-03
June 2009
Next perihelion2028-Mar-31[1]

It was originally discovered on 17 November 1889 by Lewis A. Swift at the Warner Observatory, Rochester, New York, and was described by Swift as being pretty faint. It was rediscovered on 8 February 1973 by Tom Gehrels at the Palomar Observatory, California who estimated its brightness as a very low magnitude 19.[2]

It was also observed in 1981, 1991, 2000, 2009 and 2018. The 2018 apparition was the most favourable, with the comet reaching a peak magnitude of 9. It had its closest approach to the Earth on 28 October 2018, at a distance of 0.445 au.[3] The comet had four outbursts. The brightest was on August 14, during which the comet brightened 2.7 magnitudes.[4]

Comet 64P in Pegasus in October 2018

See also

References
  1. MPC
  2. "64P/Swift-Gehrels". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  3. Biver, N.; Bockelée-Morvan, D.; Lis, D. C.; Despois, D.; Moreno, R.; Crovisier, J.; Colom, P.; Boissier, J.; Dello Russo, N.; Vervack, R. J.; Cordiner, M.; Milam, S.; Roth, N. X.; Bonev, B. P.; DiSanti, M. A.; Davies, J. K.; Kawakita, H. (July 2021). "Molecular composition of short-period comets from millimetre-wave spectroscopy: 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, 38P/Stephan-Oterma, 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák, and 64P/Swift-Gehrels". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 651: A25. Bibcode:2021A&A...651A..25B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202140765. S2CID 236361791.
  4. Kelley, Michael S. P.; Bodewits, Dennis; Ye, Quanzhi; Ahumada, Tomás; Cromer, John; Dekany, Richard; Helou, George; Laher, Russ R.; Masci, Frank J.; Ngeow, Chow-Choong; Rusholme, Ben; Shupe, David L. (5 September 2019). "Outbursts at Comets 46P/Wirtanen, 64P/Swift-Gehrels, and 78P/Gehrels 2 in 2018". Research Notes of the AAS. 3 (9): 126. Bibcode:2019RNAAS...3..126K. doi:10.3847/2515-5172/ab3fb4. ISSN 2515-5172. S2CID 203040145.


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