| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Charles D. Slaughter Robert Burnham |
| Discovery date | January 27, 1959 |
| Designations | |
| 1958 VI; 1970 V; 1981 XVIII; 1993 X | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | March 6, 2006 |
| Aphelion | 7.679 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.535 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 5.107AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.5036 |
| Orbital period | 11.54a |
| Inclination | 8.1558° |
| Last perihelion | July 18, 2016[1] January 14, 2005 |
| Next perihelion | 2027-Dec-19[2][3] |
| JupiterMOID | 0.02 AU (3,000,000 km)[4] |
56P/Slaughter–Burnham is aperiodiccomet in theSolar System with a period of 11.54 years.[5] It is the second of two comets co-discovered byRobert Burnham Jr. andCharles D. Slaughter.
It was discovered in 1959 byCharles D. Slaughter andRobert Burnham of theLowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona during a photographic survey. They spotted the comet, with a faint brightness of magnitude 16, on a plate exposed on 10 December 1958. By monitoring its movement over a series of consecutive days,Elizabeth Roemer was able to calculate its orbit, suggesting aperihelion date of 4 August 1958 and an orbital period of 11.18 years.
It was subsequently observed in 1970, 1981, 1993, 2005 and 2016. Its next perihelion will be on December 19, 2027.[6]
The nucleus of the comet has a radius of 1.55 kilometers based on observations byKeck.[7]
| Numbered comets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous 55P/Tempel–Tuttle | 56P/Slaughter–Burnham | Next 57P/du Toit–Neujmin–Delporte |
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