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101P/Chernykh

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Also known as 1977l Chernykh, 1978 IV Chernykh, 1991o Chernykh, 1992 II Chernykh, 101P/Chernykh - A, 101P/Chernykh - B

101P/Chernykh is a periodic comet which was first discovered on 19 August 1977, by Nikolaj Stepanovich Chernykh. This comet is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 5.8 AU with an eccentricity of 0.60 and an orbital period of 14 years. The elliptical orbit will bring it as close as 2.35 AU and as far as 9.28 AU from the Sun. It will next come to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) in 2034. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 5.05° to the plane of the ecliptic.

Key facts

Comet.name
101P/Chernykh
Comet.image
101P-A 2020-02-02 image ZTF-sso-449-zr-size-5.6arcmin.png
Comet.caption
Fragment A of 101P/Chernykh imaged from the Zwicky Transient Facility on 2 February 2020
Comet.discoverer
Nikolai S. Chernykh
Comet.discovery_site
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory
Comet.discovery_date
19 August 1977
Comet.mpc_name
P/1977 Q1, P/1991 L1
Comet.epoch
17 October 2024 (JD 2460600.5)
Comet.observation_arc
44.53 years
Comet.obs
1,932
Comet.perihelion
2.349 AU (A)2.351 AU (B)
Comet.aphelion
9.281 AU (A)9.249 AU (B)
Comet.semimajor
5.815 AU
Comet.eccentricity
0.5962
Comet.period
14.02 years (A)13.97 years (B)
Comet.inclination
5.049°
Comet.asc_node
116.14°
Comet.arg_peri
277.93°

via Wikipedia infobox

~1 min read

Encyclopedic overview

3 sections
Contents
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

101P/Chernykh is a periodic comet which was first discovered on 19 August 1977, by Nikolaj Stepanovich Chernykh. This comet is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 5.8 AU with an eccentricity of 0.60 and an orbital period of 14 years. The elliptical orbit will bring it as close as 2.35 AU and as far as 9.28 AU from the Sun. It will next come to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) in 2034. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 5.05° to the plane of the ecliptic.

In April 1991, the comet was observed to split in two. Zdenek Sekanina, from JPL, concluded that the comet split at a distance of from the Sun. The primary nucleus is in diameter and was last observed in 2022. Fragment B has not been observed since 2006. As of epoch 2022, fragment B takes 21 days longer to orbit the Sun. The companion is not expected to survive its next perihelion passage.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “101P/Chernykh” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.