14P/Wolf

14P/Wolf imaged by theHubble Space Telescope on 17 September 2000
Discovery
Discovered by	Max Wolf
Discovery site	Heidelberg, Germany
Discovery date	17 September 1884
Designations
MPC designation	P/1884 S1, P/1891 J1
Alternative designations	1884 III, 1891 II 1898 IV, 1912 I, 1918 V 1925 X, 1934 I, 1942 VI 1950 VI, 1959 II 1967 XII, 1976 II 1984 IX, 1992 XXII
Orbital characteristics[3][2]
Epoch	5 May 2024 (JD 2460800.5)
Observation arc	140.85 years
Number of observations	749
Aphelion	5.775 AU
Perihelion	2.738 AU
Semi-major axis	4.256 AU
Eccentricity	0.35669
Orbital period	8.782 years
Inclination	27.918°
Longitude of ascending node	202.03°
Argument of periapsis	159.19°
Mean anomaly	303.66°
Last perihelion	1 December 2017
Next perihelion	19 September 2026[1][2]
TJupiter	2.716
EarthMOID	1.746 AU
JupiterMOID	0.046 AU
Physical characteristics[5]
Mean radius	3.16±0.01 km
Meandensity	0.32±0.02 g/cm3
Synodic rotation period	9.02±0.01 hours[4]
Spectral type	(V–R) =0.57±0.07 (R–I) =0.51±0.06
Comet total magnitude (M1)	15.6

14P/Wolf is aperiodic comet with an 8.78-year orbit around the Sun.

Max Wolf discovered the comet fromHeidelberg, Germany on 17 September 1884, about 15 days before it passed 0.8 AU (120 million km) from Earth. It was later rediscovered by, but not credited to,Ralph Copeland (Dun Echt Observatory,Aberdeen,Scotland) on September 23.^{[citation needed]}

Before approaching Jupiter in 1875, the comet had a perihelion of 2.74 AU (410 million km) and an orbital period of 8.84 years, and the approach dropped perihelion to 1.57 AU (235 million km).^[6] An approach to Jupiter in September 1922 lifted perihelion to 2.43 AU (364 million km).^[7] The current perihelion of 2.7 AU is from when the comet passed Jupiter on 13 August 2005. Another close approach to Jupiter on 10 March 2041 will return the comet to parameters similar to the period 1925–2000.^[8]

In 2005, the comet'snucleus is estimated to have an effective radius of3.16±0.01 kilometers.^[5] Follow-up observations in 2017 revealed that 14P/Wolf rotates around its axis once every9.02±0.01 hours.^[4]

• 14P/Wolf at theJPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters
• 14P/Wolf at Gary W. Kronk'sCometography
• 14P/Wolf at Kazuo Kinoshita'sComets
• 14P/Wolf at Seiichi Yoshida's website

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