 Comet 157P/Tritton on 5 September 2022 byZTF with fragment B visible | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Keith Tritton |
| Discovery date | February 11, 1978 |
| Designations | |
| 1977 XIII | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 2023-02-25 |
| Aphelion | 5.519AU |
| Perihelion | 1.572 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.545 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.5566 |
| Orbital period | 6.675a |
| Inclination | 12.42° |
| Last perihelion | 2022-Sep-09[1] June 10, 2016[2] February 20, 2010 |
| Next perihelion | 2028-Mar-07 (B)[3] 2029-May-18[4] |
157P/Tritton is aperiodiccomet with a 6-yearorbital period. Fragment B was first observed on 21 August 2022.[5]
Keith Tritton (U. K. Schmidt Telescope Unit, Coonabarabran) discovered thiscomet on a deep IIIa-J exposure made with the 122-cm Schmidt telescope on 1978 February 11.66.[6]
The comet was not detected during the predicted returns of 1984, 1990 or 1996 and was presumed lost. However, on 2003 October 6.44, using CCD images obtained with a 0.12-m refractor,C. W. Juels (Fountain Hills, Arizona, USA) andP. Holvorcem (Campinas, Brazil) detected a comet that proved to be on a similar orbit to the lost comet. B. G. Marsden was able to calculate a new orbit, published in IAU Circular No. 8215, issued 2003 October 7, which confirmed that it was indeed identical to comet Tritton.[6]
The comet was also recovered at its 2010, 2016, and 2022 apparitions. On 2 October 2022 the discovery of a new fragment of the comet was published in MPEC 2022-T23.[5] With a smaller orbit, fragment B should come toperihelion in 2028 March[3] and the primary fragment should come to perihelion in 2029 May[4] (1y 2m 11d later).
| Component | Period (years) | Perihelion | Aphelion (AU) | Semi-major axis (AU) | Eccentricity | Inclination | Next Perihelion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 157P[1] | 6.68 | 1.572 | 5.519 | 3.545 | 0.5566 | 12.42° | 2029-May-18[4] |
| 157P-B[7] | 5.49 | 1.552 | 4.671 | 3.111 | 0.5012 | 12.43° | 2028-Mar-07[3] |
| Numbered comets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous 156P/Russell-LINEAR | 157P/Tritton | Next 158P/Kowal-LINEAR |
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