 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Tom Gehrels (Spacewatch) |
| Discovery date | September 8, 1991 |
| Designations | |
| P/1991 R2, 1990 XXIX, 1991x, P/1996 F1 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | March 13, 2013 (2456364.5)[1] |
| Aphelion | 4.730779 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.52546421 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.12812162AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.5123385 |
| Orbital period | 5.53a 2020.8d |
| Inclination | 9.98579° |
| Last perihelion | 7 March 2024[2] 27 August 2018[3] 16 February 2013 |
125P/Spacewatch is aperiodicJupiter-family comet. It was discovered on September 8, 1991, byTom Gehrels using the 0.91 mSpacewatch telescope at theKitt Peak National Observatory.[4] It was the first comet discovered with the use of aCCD[5] and also the faintest comet upon discovery up to that point.[4] It has adiameter of 1.6 km.[6]
The comet was discovered in images taken by the 0.91 mSpacewatch telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory by Tom Gehrels on September 8, 1991 as an essentially stellar object with anapparent magnitude of 21, with a tail more than 5 arcminutes long.[7]Brian G. Marsden calculated a parabolic and an elliptical orbit, with the elliptical orbit suggesting an orbital period of 5.58 years and a perihelion date on 18 December 1990.[8]
The comet was recovered on 21 March 1996 by the Spacewatch telescope fromJames V. Scotti and J. Montani, with an apparent magnitude of 17.6, a tail measuring 0.66 arcminutes long and a coma measuring 15 arcseconds across. The orbit calculated after the recovery indicates an orbital period of 5.56 years.[9] During that apparition the comet experienced an outburst in late July 1996 and brightened to a magnitude of 14.5.[4] During the 2002 apparition the comet brightened to a magnitude of 18.[4]
| Numbered comets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous 124P/Mrkos | 125P/Spacewatch | Next 126P/IRAS |
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