126P/IRAS
Sign in to save126P/IRAS is a Jupiter-family comet with an orbital period of 13.4 years. It was discovered in images taken by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) on 28 July 1983 by J. Davies. The discovery was confirmed with images taken with the 1.2-m Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory.
Key facts
- Comet.M2
- 14.9
- Comet.name
- 126P/IRAS
- Comet.image
- 126P 2023-07-27 image ZTF-sso-555-zr-size-11arcmin.png
- Comet.caption
- Comet 126P/IRAS photographed from the Zwicky Transient Facility on 27 July 2023
- Comet.discoverer
- Infrared Astronomical Satellite
- Comet.discovery_date
- 26 July 1983
- Comet.mpc_name
- P/1983 M1, P/1996 P1
- Comet.designations
- 1983 XIV, 1983j
- Comet.epoch
- 27 May 2021 (JD 2459361.5)
- Comet.observation_arc
- 27.52 years
- Comet.obs
- 1,717
- Comet.perihelion
- 1.713 AU
- Comet.aphelion
- 9.573 AU
- Comet.semimajor
- 5.640 AU
- Comet.eccentricity
- 0.69628
- Comet.period
- 13.395 years
- Comet.inclination
- 45.869°
- Comet.asc_node
- 357.86°
via Wikipedia infobox
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Observational history
- Physical characteristics
- Possible meteor shower
- References
- External links
126P/IRAS is a Jupiter-family comet with an orbital period of 13.4 years. It was discovered in images taken by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) on 28 July 1983 by J. Davies. The discovery was confirmed with images taken with the 1.2-m Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory.
== Observational history == Upon discovery the comet had an apparent magnitude of 15 and appeared stellar in appearance. The comet brightened and in mid September 1983 reached an apparent magnitude of 11 while a tail 3.5 arcminutes long was observed. Brian G. Marsden computed its orbit and found it is a short period comet with an orbital period of 13.32 years. The comet was observed again during its next apparition in 1996, when it brightened up to magnitude of about 11 in September 1996 and faded to about 12 in October. The comet was observed during its 2010 and 2023 apparitions.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “126P/IRAS” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.