 Comet Pons–Gambart by thePalomar Transient Factory on 18 March 2013 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Jean-Louis Pons Jean-Félix Adolphe Gambart |
| Discovery date | 21 June 1827 |
| Designations | |
| C/1827 M1, P/2012 V4 | |
| Orbital characteristics[3][4] | |
| Epoch | 25 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5) |
| Observation arc | 187–904 years |
| Earliestprecovery date | May 1110?[1] |
| Number of observations | 1,185 |
| Aphelion | 63.147 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.826 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 31.986 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.97419 |
| Orbital period | 185.6 years |
| Inclination | 136.75° |
| 320.42° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 20.287° |
| Mean anomaly | 20.259° |
| Last perihelion | 19 December 2012 |
| Next perihelion | 9 August 2191[2] |
| TJupiter | -0.645 |
| EarthMOID | 0.172 AU |
| JupiterMOID | 1.389 AU |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 11.3 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 14.9 |
273P/Pons–Gambart, also calledComet Pons-Gambart, is aperiodic comet in a retrograde orbit first discovered on 21 June 1827 byJean-Louis Pons andJean-Félix Adolphe Gambart.[3] It has a 186 year orbit and it fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet (20 years <period < 200 years). Its last perihelion was in December 2012 and will next come toperihelion around August 2191.[2]
The orbit was initially considered to be parabolic, but its orbit was recalculated in 1917 and it was found to be elliptical with an orbital period determined to be 64 years with 10 years uncertainly.[5] The comet was consideredlost until 7 November 2012, when amateur astronomer Rob Matson discovered a comet in images taken by SWAN instrument on boardSOHO, and it was identified that the pre-recoveryshort-arc orbital calculations for Pons-Gambart were completely wrong because the comet only had a 1-monthobservation arc with poor data and that was the first perihelion after the 1827 apparition.[5] It was last observed in April 2014 when it was 5.8 AU (870 million km) from the Sun.[4]
The original name when first discovered wasC/1827 M1.[6] Before the 2012 return, when Comet Pons–Gambart was speculated to have a roughly 60 year orbit it was suspected of possibly being cometC/1110 K1.[1][7]
Of all thenumbered periodic comets, only153P/Ikeya–Zhang has a longer orbital period.
Comet Pons–Gambart has been suggested as the parent body of the eta Eridanindsmeteor shower, however cometC/1852 K1 (Chacornac) seems to be a better candidate.[8]
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