Miss Mitchell's Comet, formally designated as C/1847 T1, is a non-periodic comet that American astronomer Maria Mitchell discovered in 1847.[5]
| Discovery[1][2] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Maria Mitchell |
| Discovery site | Nantucket, Massachusetts |
| Discovery date | 1 October 1847 |
| Designations | |
| Miss Mitchell's Comet 1847 VI[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch | 26 October 1847 (JD 2395960.5) |
| Observation arc | 74 days |
| Number of observations | 77 |
| Perihelion | 0.329 au |
| Eccentricity | 1.000172 |
| Inclination | 108.13° |
| 192.967° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 276.609° |
| Last perihelion | 14 November 1847 |
The discovery was initially credited to Francesco de Vico. Vico, observing from Rome, was the first to report the comet's discovery in Europe. However, Mitchell observed the comet two days before Vico did, so she became recognized as the comet's discoverer.[5][6]
The comet had a weakly hyperbolic orbit solution while inside the planetary region of the Solar System.[4] An orbit solution when the comet is outside of the planetary region shows that the comet is bound to the Sun.
References
edit- ^ "Maria Mitchell: America's first female astronomer". www.noaa.gov. NOAA. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ "Maria Mitchell". Association for Women in Science. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ a b "C/1847 T1 (Mitchell) – JPL Small-Body Database Browser". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
- ^ a b "Maria Mitchell Discovers a Comet". This Month in Physics History. American Physical Society. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
- ^ "About". Maria Mitchell Association. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
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