173P/Mueller

{{Short description|Periodic comet with 13 year orbit}}

{{Infobox comet

| name=173P/Mueller

| image= 173P 2006-10-24 Spitzer image Level-2-PBCD-IRS-PU-Blue-13.3-18.7um.png

| discoverer=Jean Mueller

| discovery_date=November 20, 1993

| designations=1993 W1; 1994 XXV; 2005 T1

| epoch=March 6, 2006

| semimajor=5.707 AU

| perihelion=4.213 AU

| aphelion=7.202 AU

| eccentricity=0.2618

| period=13.64 a

| inclination= 16.4919°

| last_p=December 16, 2021{{cite web

|title=173P/Mueller Orbit

|url=http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=173P

|publisher=Minor Planet Center

|accessdate=2014-06-20}}{{cite web

|date=2008-05-30

|title=173P/Mueller 5 (NK 1627)

|publisher=OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections

|author=Syuichi Nakano

|author-link=Syuichi Nakano

|url=http://www.oaa.gr.jp/~oaacs/nk/nk1627.htm

|accessdate=2012-02-25}}
May 18, 2008

| next_p=2035-Aug-29{{cite web

|title=Horizons Batch for 173P/Mueller 5 on 2035-Aug-29

|publisher=JPL Horizons

|type=Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive

|url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%27173P%27&START_TIME=%272035-Aug-27%27&STOP_TIME=%272035-Aug-31%27&STEP_SIZE=%273%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27

|accessdate=2023-04-29}} (JPL#110/Soln.date: 2022-Dec-08)

}}

173P/Mueller, also known as Mueller 5, is a periodic comet in the Solar System with an orbital period of 13.6 years.

The comet was discovered by Jean Mueller in plates exposed on 20 November 1993 as part of the second Palomar Sky Survey. The comet had an apparent magnitude of 17.5–18 and a tail about 80 arcseconds long.{{cite journal |last1=Green |first1=Daniel |title=IAUC 5891: 1993s; RX J2107.9-0518; N Sgr 1993 |journal=www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu |date=21 November 1993 |url=http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/05800/05891.html}} The comet was recovered by Eric J. Christensen in images obtained on 6 October 2005 during the Mount Lemmon Survey. The comet then han an apparent magnitude of 18–18.4.{{cite journal |last1=Green |first1=Daniel |title=IAUC 8613: P/1993 W1 = 2005 T1 |journal=www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu |date=8 December 2005 |url=http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/08600/08613.html}}

The nucleus of the comet is estimated to have a radius of {{val|4.28|0.95|1.17}} km based on infrared imaging by the Spitzer Space Telescope.{{cite journal |last1=Fernández |first1=Y.R. |last2=Kelley |first2=M.S. |last3=Lamy |first3=P.L. |last4=Toth |first4=I. |last5=Groussin |first5=O. |last6=Lisse |first6=C.M. |last7=A’Hearn |first7=M.F. |last8=Bauer |first8=J.M. |last9=Campins |first9=H. |last10=Fitzsimmons |first10=A. |last11=Licandro |first11=J. |last12=Lowry |first12=S.C. |last13=Meech |first13=K.J. |last14=Pittichová |first14=J. |last15=Reach |first15=W.T. |last16=Snodgrass |first16=C. |last17=Weaver |first17=H.A. |title=Thermal properties, sizes, and size distribution of Jupiter-family cometary nuclei |journal=Icarus |date=September 2013 |volume=226 |issue=1 |pages=1138–1170 |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2013.07.021|arxiv=1307.6191 }}