56P/Slaughter–Burnham is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a period of 11.54 years.[4]
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Charles D. Slaughter Robert Burnham |
| Discovery date | January 27, 1959 |
| Designations | |
| 1958 VI; 1970 V; 1981 XVIII; 1993 X | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | March 6, 2006 |
| Aphelion | 7.679 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.535 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 5.107 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.5036 |
| Orbital period | 11.54 a |
| Inclination | 8.1558° |
| Last perihelion | July 18, 2016[1] January 14, 2005 |
| Next perihelion | 2027-Dec-19[2] |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.02 AU (3,000,000 km)[3] |
It was discovered in 1959 by Charles D. Slaughter and Robert Burnham of the Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona during a photographic survey. They spotted the comet, with a faint brightness of magnitude 16, on a plate exposed on 10 December 1958. By monitoring its movement over a series of consecutive days, Elizabeth Roemer was able to calculate its orbit, suggesting a perihelion date of 4 August 1958 and an orbital period of 11.18 years.
It was subsequently observed in 1970, 1981, 1993, 2005 and 2016. Its next perihelion will be on December 19, 2027.[5]
The nucleus of the comet has a radius of 1.55 kilometers based on observations by Keck.[6]
References
edit- ^ Syuichi Nakano (2005-10-27). "56P/Slaughter-Burnham (NK 1272)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
- ^ MPC
- ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 56P/Slaughter-Burnham" (last observation: 2017-01-08). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 2017-02-26.
- ^ "56P/Slaughter-Burnham". Kronk's Cometography. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ^ "56P/Slaughter-Burnham appearances". Seiichi Yoshida. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ^ Meech, K.J.; Hainaut, O.R.; Marsden, B.G. (August 2004). "Comet nucleus size distributions from HST and Keck telescopes". Icarus. 170 (2): 463–491. Bibcode:2004Icar..170..463M. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.03.014.
Further reading
editExternal links
edit- Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Horizons Ephemeris
- 56P/Slaughter-Burnham – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net
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