5D/Brorsen

5D/Brorsen (also known as '''Brorsen's Comet or Comet Brorsen''') was a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered on February 26, 1846, by Danish astronomer Theodor Brorsen. The comet was last seen in 1879 and is now considered lost.

== Observational history == The comet was discovered on February 26, 1846, by Danish astronomer Theodor Brorsen. The perihelion of 5D/Brorsen was February 25, just a day before its discovery, and it passed closest to Earth on March 27, at a distance of . As a result of this close encounter to Earth, the comet's coma diameter increased. Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt estimated it as 3 to 4 arcminutes across on March 9, and 8 to 10 arcminutes across on the 22nd of that same month. On April 22, it was about 20 degrees from the north celestial pole. By the end of this first apparition the orbital period was calculated as 5.5 years. J. Russell Hind later calculated that this comet had a close approach to Jupiter on 20 May 1842, placing it to the initial orbit from which it was discovered.