87P/Bus
Appearance
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Discovery | |
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Discovered by | Schelte J. Bus |
Discovery date | 1981 |
Designations | |
Bus/1981b; Bus/1981 XI; | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch | March 6, 2006 |
Aphelion | 4.798 AU |
Perihelion | 2.174 AU |
Semi-major axis | 3.486 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.3764 |
Orbital period | 6.509 a |
Inclination | 2.5768° |
Last perihelion | May 9, 2020[1] December 19, 2013[2][3] July 7, 2007 |
Next perihelion | 2029-Jun-07[4] |
Comet 87P/Bus is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 6.5 years. It fits the definition of an Encke-type comet with (TJupiter > 3; a < aJupiter). It was discovered by Schelte J. Bus in 1981 on a plate taken with the 1.2m UK Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring, Australia. The discovery was announced in IAU Circular 3578 on March 4, 1981. It has been observed on each of its subsequent apparitions, most recently in 2020.[5]
Its nucleus is estimated to have an effective radius of 0.27 ± 0.01 kilometers and to be elongated, with an a/b ratio greater than 2.2. Its rotational period is estimated to be 32 ± 9 hours.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "87P/Bus Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
- ^ Syuichi Nakano (2010-04-29). "87P/Bus (NK 1931)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
- ^ 87P past, present and future orbital elements
- ^ "Horizons Batch for 87P/Bus (90000883) on 2029-Jun-07" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2022-06-27. (JPL#K203/18 Soln.date: 2020-Sep-28)
- ^ "87/P Bus". Seiichi Yoshida. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
- ^ Lamy, P. L.; Toth, I.; Weaver, H. A.; A'Hearn, M. F.; Jorda, L. (11 April 2011). "Properties of the nuclei and comae of 10 ecliptic comets from Hubble Space Telescope multi-orbit observations★: HST observations of 10 ecliptic comets". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 412 (3): 1573–1590. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17934.x.
External links
[edit]- Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Horizons Ephemeris
- 87P/Bus – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net