65P/Gunn
{{short description|Periodic comet}}
{{Infobox comet
| name = 65P/Gunn
| image = Comet 65P Gunn WISE.jpg
| caption = Infrared image of Gunn's Comet taken from the WISE observatory on 11 June 2010
| discoverer = James E. Gunn
| discovery_site = Palomar Observatory
| discovery_date = 17 October 1970
| mpc_name = P/1954 P1
P/1970 U2
| designations = {{unbulleted|1953 VIII, 1969 II|1976 III, 1989 XI|1970p}}
| orbit_ref = {{r|jpl1|mpc}}
| epoch = 17 October 2024 (JD 2460600.5)
| observation_arc = 46.67 years
| earliest_precovery_date = 8 August 1954{{r|IAUC_3540}}
| obs = 7,963
| perihelion = 1.597 AU
| aphelion = 4.737 AU
| semimajor = 3.453 AU
| eccentricity = 0.3194
| period = 6.414 years
| inclination = 3.237°
| asc_node = 136.09°
| arg_peri = 41.568°
| mean = 103.17°
| tjup = 2.991
| Earth_moid = 1.903 AU
| Jupiter_moid = 0.396 AU
| physical_ref = {{r|jpl1}}
| dimensions = {{cvt|10.8|km|mi}}
| M1 = 10.1
| M2 =
| magnitude =
| last_p = 16 October 2017{{r|NK1941}}
| next_p = 16 June 2025
}}
65P/Gunn is a periodic comet in the Solar System orbiting the Sun every 6.41 years inside the main asteroid belt between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.{{r|jpl2}}
Observational history
It was discovered on 11 October 1970 by Professor James E. Gunn of Princeton University using the 122-cm Schmidt telescope at the Palomar Observatory. It had a low brightness of magnitude 16, which improves to 12 under favourable conditions.
In 1972 Elizabeth Roemer managed to observe 65P/Gunn close to aphelion.{{r|Marsden_1973}}
On 4 February 1970 the comet passed {{convert|0.015|AU|e6km e6mi|abbr=unit}} from Ceres.
In 1980 it was noticed that a 19th magnitude comet found in plates obtained by Palomar Observatory on 8 August 1954{{r|IAUC_3540}} was a previous apparition of 65/Gunn. The link was confirmed by Brian G. Marsden.{{r|IAUC_3588}}
See also
References
{{reflist|refs=
| author1= D. W. Green
| title= AG Dra; COMET ON PSS; (1865); 1980h
| url= http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03500/03540.html
| journal= IAU Circular
| date= 17 November 1980
| volume= 3540 }}
| author1= B. G. Marsden
| title= P/GUNN; 1981 CW
| url= http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03500/03588.html
| journal= IAU Circular
| date= 31 March 1981
| volume= 3588 }}
| title= 65P/Gunn – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup
| url= http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=65P
| website= ssd.jpl.nasa.gov
| publisher= Jet Propulsion Laboratory
| access-date= 14 April 2025 }}
| title= WISE Catches Comet 65P/Gunn
| url= https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia13115-wise-catches-comet-65pgunn/
| publisher= Jet Propulsion Laboratory
| date= 14 June 2010
| access-date= 26 November 2014 }}
| author1= B. G. Marsden
| title= Comets in 1972
| url= http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1973QJRAS..14..389M
| journal= Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society
| year= 1973
| volume= 14
| pages= 390–391
| bibcode= 1973QJRAS..14..389M }}
| title= 65P/Gunn Orbit
| url= http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=65P
| publisher= Minor Planet Center
| access-date= 14 April 2025 }}
| author1= S. Nakano
| title= 65P/Gunn (NK 1941)
| url= http://www.oaa.gr.jp/~oaacs/nk/nk1941.htm
| website= OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections
| date= 19 June 2010
| access-date= 18 February 2012 }}
}}
External links
- {{JPL Small Body|id=1000035}}
- [http://cometography.com/pcomets/065p.html 65P at Kronk's Cometography]
- [http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0065P/index.html 65P/Gunn] – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net
- [http://lcogt.net/en/observations/ogg/2m0a/49851 65P] at Las Cumbres Observatory (26 Jun 2010 11:16, 150 seconds)
{{PeriodicComets Navigator|64P/Swift–Gehrels|66P/du Toit}}
{{Comets}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, 065P}}
{{comet-stub}}