18D/Perrine–Mrkos

18D/Perrine–Mrkos
Discovery
Discovered by	Charles Dillon Perrine & Antonín Mrkos
Discovery date	December 9, 1896
Alternative; designations	1896 X1; 1896 VII;; 1896g; 1909 P1;; 1909 III; 1909b;; 1955 U1; 1955 VII;; 1955i; 1962 I;; 1961h; 1968 VIII;; 1968h
Orbital characteristics A
Epoch	2002-09-03 (JD 2452520.5)
Aphelion	5.8537 AU
Perihelion	1.2872 AU
Semi-major axis	3.5705 AU
Eccentricity	0.6395
Orbital period	6.75 a
Inclination	17.864°
Last perihelion	2009 Apr. 17?; (unobserved)
Next perihelion	2017 Feb. 26, (Lost)

18D/Perrine–Mrkos is a periodic comet in the Solar System, originally discovered by the American-Argentine astronomer Charles Dillon Perrine (Lick Observatory, California, USA) on December 9, 1896. For some time it was thought to be a fragment of Biela's Comet.^[2]

It was considered lost after the 1909 appearance, but was rediscovered by the Czech astronomer Antonín Mrkos (Skalnate Pleso Observatory, Slovakia) on October 19, 1955 using ordinary binoculars, it was later confirmed as 18D by Leland E. Cunningham (Leuschner Observatory, University of California, Berkeley).

The comet was last observed during the 1968 perihelion passage when it passed 0.3144 AU (47,030,000 km; 29,230,000 mi) from the Earth.^[3] The comet has not been observed during the following perihelion passages:^[1]

1975 Aug. 2
1982 May 16
1989 Feb. 28
1995 Dec. 6
2002 Sept.10
2009 Apr. 17

The next predicted perihelion passage would be on 2017 Feb. 26,^[1] but the comet is currently considered lost.

References

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↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (Cometography Home Page)
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