 Faye's Comet as imaged by Luciano Tinelli on 15 November 2021 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Hervé Faye |
| Discovery site | Royal Observatory, France |
| Discovery date | 23 November 1843 |
| Designations | |
| P/1843 W1, P/1850 W1 | |
| |
| Orbital characteristics[2][3] | |
| Epoch | 25 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5) |
| Observation arc | 164.58 years |
| Number of observations | 7,603 |
| Aphelion | 6.034 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.619 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.827 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.57683 |
| Orbital period | 7.48 years |
| Inclination | 8.009° |
| 192.92° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 207.05° |
| Mean anomaly | 70.317° |
| Last perihelion | 8 September 2021 |
| Next perihelion | 9 March 2029[1] |
| TJupiter | 2.742 |
| EarthMOID | 0.589 AU |
| JupiterMOID | 0.066 AU |
| Physical characteristics[2] | |
Mean radius | 1.77 km (1.10 mi)[4] |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 11.0 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 13.2 |
| Perihelion distance at different epochs[5] | |||||||
| Epoch | Perihelion (AU) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1806 | 1.74 | ||||||
| 1843 | 1.69 | ||||||
| 1984 | 1.59 | ||||||
| 2102 | 1.51 | ||||||
4P/Faye (also known asFaye's Comet orComet Faye) is aJupiter-family comet discovered in November 1843 byHervé Faye at theRoyal Observatory inParis. Its most recent perihelion occurred on 8 September 2021.[3]
The comet was first observed by Faye on November 23, but bad weather prevented its confirmation until the 25th.[6] It was so faint that it had already passedperihelion about a month before its discovery, and only a close pass by theEarth had made it bright enough for discovery.Otto Wilhelm von Struve reported that the comet was visible to the naked eye at the end of November.[6] It remained visible for smaller telescopes until January 10, 1844, and was finally lost to larger telescopes on April 10, 1844.[6]
In 1844,Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander[7] andThomas James Henderson[8] independently computed that the comet was a short-period comet; by May, its period had been calculated to be 7.43 years.[6]Urbain Le Verrier computed the positions for the 1851 apparition, predicting perihelion in April 1851.[6] The comet was found close to its predicted position on November 29, 1850, byJames Challis.[6]
The comet was missed during its apparitions in 1903 and 1918 due to unfavorable observing circumstances.[6] It reached a brightness of about 9thmagnitude in 2006.[9]
4P/Faye has a close approach to Jupiter every 59.3 years, which is gradually reducing its perihelion and increasing its orbital eccentricity. In the most recent close approach to Jupiter (March 2018), Faye's perihelion changed from about 1.7 AU to about 1.5 AU.[10]
Thecomet nucleus is estimated to be about 3.54 km (2.20 mi) in diameter.[4]
| Numbered comets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous 3D/Biela | 4P/Faye | Next 5D/Brorsen |
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