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7P/Pons–Winnecke

{{Short description|Periodic comet}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox comet

| name = 7P/Pons–Winnecke

| image = 7P 2021-06-08 image ZTF-sso-341-zg-fov-7.0arcmin.png

| caption = Comet Pons–Winnecke as seen in 2021 by ZTF

| discoverer = Jean Louis Pons
Friedrich Winnecke

| discovery_site = Marseille, France
Bonn, Germany

| discovery_date = 12 June 1819
9 March 1858

| mpc_name = {{unbulleted|P/1819 L1, P/1858 E1|P/1869 G1}}

| designations = {{unbulleted|1819 III, 1858 II, 1869 I|1875 I, 1886 VI,

1892 IV|1898 II, 1909 II, 1915 III|1921 III, 1927 VII, 1933 II|1939 V, 1945 IV, 1951 VI|1964 I, 1970 VIII|1976 XIV, 1983 IV|1989 VIII}}

| orbit_ref = {{r|jpldata|MPC}}

| epoch = 25 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5)

| observation_arc = 130.22 years

| obs = 1,797

| perihelion = 1.233 AU

| aphelion = 5.587 AU

| semimajor = 3.410 AU

| eccentricity = 0.63853

| period = 6.296 years

| inclination = 22.373°

| asc_node = 93.327°

| arg_peri = 172.54°

| mean = 100.03°

| tjup = 2.677

| Earth_moid = 0.226 AU

| Jupiter_moid = 0.273 AU

| physical_ref = {{r|jpldata|Snodgrass_2005}}

| dimensions = {{cvt|5.2|km|mi}}

| albedo = 0.04 (assumed)

| rotation = 6.8–9.5 hours

| spectral_type = (V–R) {{=}} {{val|0.40|0.05}}
(R–I) {{=}} {{val|0.41|0.06}}

| M1 = 16.0

| M2 =

| last_p = 27 May 2021

| next_p = 25 August 2027

}}

7P/Pons–Winnecke (also known as Comet Pons–Winnecke) is a periodic Jupiter-family comet with a six-year orbit around the Sun.

Observational history

Jean Louis Pons (Marseille) originally discovered the comet on 12 June 1819, it was later rediscovered by Friedrich Winnecke (Bonn) on 9 March 1858. It is the parent body of the June Bootids of late June.

File:Artists Concept 1921 Pons–Winnecke.jpg

Early calculations for the 1921 apparition suggested that the orbit of the comet might collide with Earth in June, but observations on 10 April ruled out an impact.{{r|PS1921}} It made a very close approach to Earth in June 1927.{{r|Kronk1}} The outward migration of perihelion created impressive meteor showers in 1916, 1921 and 1927.{{r|Kronk2}}

Orbit

7P currently has an orbital period of 6.3 years. It currently has a perihelion of 1.2 AU (outside the orbit of Earth) and an aphelion of 5.6 AU (past the orbit of Jupiter). It passed within {{convert|0.04|AU|e6km|abbr=unit}} of Earth in June 1927, and {{convert|0.1|AU|e6km|abbr=unit}} in 1939;{{r|jpldata}} but it will not come as close in the 21st century. A close approach to Jupiter in July 2037{{r|jpldata}} will drop perihelion to 0.982 AU, and by 2062 perihelion will be further reduced to 0.85 AU.

{{anchor|2062}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; font-size: 0.9em;"

|+7P/Pons–Winnecke closest Earth approach on 2062-Jun-12{{r|jpldata}}

! Date & time of
closest approach

! Earth distance
(AU)

! Sun distance
(AU)

! Velocity
wrt Earth
(km/s)

! Velocity
wrt Sun
(km/s)

! Uncertainty
region
(3-sigma)

! Reference

2062-Jun-12 18:25 ± 10 min{{convert|0.1676|AU|e6km e6mi LD|abbr=unit}}{{Convert|0.8499|AU|e6km e6mi LD|abbr=unit}}16.342.5± 312 km[https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%27DES%3D7P%3BCAP%27&START_TIME=%272062-Jun-12%2018:25%27&STOP_TIME=%272062-Jun-13%27&STEP_SIZE=%271%20day%27&QUANTITIES=%2719,20,22,39%27 Horizons]

The next perihelion passage is 25 August 2027 when the comet will have a solar elongation of 63 degrees. The last perihelion passage was 27 May 2021 when the comet had a solar elongation of 107 degrees at approximately apparent magnitude 11. It passed {{Convert|0.44|AU|e6km|abbr=unit|lk=on}} from Earth on 12 June 2021. Before that it came to perihelion on 30 January 2015 with a solar elongation of 24 degrees.{{r|MPC}}

Physical characteristics

class=wikitable style="text-align:center; font-size:11px; float:right; margin:2px"
bgcolor= style="font-size: smaller;"

| colspan="8" style="text-align:center;"|Perihelion distance
at different epochs

EpochPerihelion
(AU)
18190.77
18750.83
18860.89
18980.92
19090.97
19211.04
19331.10
19891.26
20271.13
20390.982
20620.847

The comet nucleus is estimated to be {{cvt|5.2|km|mi}} in diameter.{{r|jpldata}} Photometric measurements from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) reveals that the comet exhibited brightness variations, which imply that its rotation period is roughly between 6.8–9.5 hours.{{r|Snodgrass_2005}} Dust production rate was measured to be less than {{cvt|150|kg/s|lb/s}} during its 2021 apparition.{{r|Novichonok_2024}}

Proposed exploration

File:Mariner 5.jpg

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposed a flyby of the comet with a flight spare of Mariner 4 with the closest approach taking place in 1969 at a distance of {{cvt|5000|km|mi}}.{{r|Ulivi_2007}} However, the intrinsically faint comet's ephemeris was poorly defined at the time, making it difficult to track its position optically from the ground.{{r|Ulivi_2007}} The probe was instead used for a 1967 Venus flyby as Mariner 5.{{r|Ulivi_2007}}

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web

| title= 7P/Pons-Winnecke – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup

| url= https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=7P

| website= ssd.jpl.nasa.gov

| publisher= Jet Propulsion Laboratory

| access-date= 25 February 2010 }}

{{cite web

| author1= G. W. Kronk

| title= Record Close Comet Distances from Earth

| url= http://cometography.com/nearcomet.html

| website= Cometography.com

| access-date= 2 May 2025 }}

{{Cite web

| author1= G. W. Kronk

| title= 7P/Pons-Winnecke

| url= http://cometography.com/pcomets/007p.html

| website= Cometography.com

| access-date= 5 March 2019 }}

{{cite web

| title= 7P/Pons-Winnecke Orbit

| url= https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=7P

| publisher= Minor Planet Center

| access-date= 5 March 2019 }}

{{cite journal

| author1= A. O. Novichonok

| author2= A. A. Shmal'ts

| author3= S. V. Nazarov

| author4= A. S. Pozanenko

| author5= E. V. Novichonok

| author6= M. A. Tereshina

| author7= V. A. Voropaev

| display-authors= 4

| title= The Evolutionary State of Near-Earth Comet 7P/Pons–Winnecke

| journal= Solar System Research

| year= 2024

| volume= 58

| issue= 4

| pages= 456–468

| bibcode= 2024SoSyR..58..456N

| doi= 10.1134/S003809462470028X }}

{{cite magazine

| title= The Pons–Winnecke Comet Will Almost Hit the Earth

| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GCoDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17

| magazine= Popular Science

| date= July 1921

| page= 17 }}

{{cite journal

| author1= C. Snodgrass

| author2= A. Fitzsimmons

| author3= S. C. Lowry

| title= The nuclei of comets 7P/Pons-Winnecke, 14P/Wolf and 92P/Sanguin

| url= https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2005/46/aa3237-05.pdf

| journal= Astronomy & Astrophysics

| year= 2005

| volume= 444

| issue= 1

| pages= 287–295

| bibcode= 2005A&A...444..287S

| arxiv= astro-ph/0509115v1

| s2cid= 119473563

| doi= 10.1051/0004-6361:20053237

| doi-access= free }}

{{cite book

| author1= P. Ulivi

| author2= D. M. Harland

| title= Robotic Exploration of the Solar System Part I: The Golden Age 1957–1982

| url=

https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi1mCYJWBwAC&pg=PA57

| publisher=Springer

| year= 2007

| pages= 57–58

| isbn= 978-0-387-49326-8 }}

{{cite web

|date=2013-12-14

|title=7P/Pons-Winnecke

|publisher=Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog

|author=Seiichi Yoshida

|url=http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0007P/index.html

|access-date=2014-10-29}}

{{cite web

|title=Horizons Batch for 7P/Pons-Winnecke (90000167) on 2027-Aug-25

|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=%2790000167%27&START_TIME=%272027-Aug-25%27&STOP_TIME=%272027-Aug-27%27&STEP_SIZE=%2720%20minutes%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27

|accessdate=2022-06-15}} (JPL#24/Soln.date: 2021-Dec-20)

{{cite web

|title=7P/Pons-Winnecke past, present and future orbital elements

|url=http://jcometobs.web.fc2.com/pcmtn/0007p.htm

|work=Comet Orbit

|first=Kazuo |last=Kinoshita

|date=2016-07-31

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520033132/http://jcometobs.web.fc2.com/pcmtn/0007p.htm

|archive-date=2011-05-20

|url-status=live

|access-date=2023-07-27}}

}}

External links

  • {{JPL Small Body|id=1000069}}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20141029160327/http://scully.cfa.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/returnprepeph.cgi?d=c&o=0007P Elements and Ephemeris for 7P/Pons-Winnecke] – Minor Planet Center
  • [http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0007P/index.html 7P/Pons-Winnecke] – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net

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Category:Periodic comets

0007

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