 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Tsuchinshan (Observatory) |
| Discovery date | January 11, 1965 |
| Designations | |
| 1965 II; 1971 X; 1978 XVI; 1985 X; 1992 XII | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 2011-Nov-15 (JD 2455880.5) |
| Aphelion | 5.398AU |
| Perihelion | 1.618 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.508 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.5385 |
| Orbital period | 6.785a |
| Inclination | 3.609° |
| Last perihelion | July 20, 2025[1][2] December 11, 2018[1][2] May 13, 2012[2][3] December 24, 2005[2] |
| Next perihelion | 2032-Mar-10[4] |
60P/Tsuchinshan, also known asTsuchinshan 2, is aperiodiccomet in theSolar System with anorbital period of 6.79 years.[5] Tsuchinshan is theWade-Giles transliteration corresponding to the pinyinZǐjīn Shān 紫金山, which is Mandarin Chinese for "Purple Mountain".
It was discovered at thePurple Mountain Observatory, Nanjing, China on 11 January 1965 with a magnitude estimated as a very faint 15. The elliptical orbit was computed to give a perihelion date of 9 February 1965 with an orbital period of 6.69 years. Revised calculations predicted the next perihelion would be on 28 November 1971 andElizabeth Roemer of theUniversity of Arizona successfully relocated the comet with the 154-cm reflector at Catalina. It was also observed in 1978, 1985, 1991-1992, and 1998-1999.
The comet peaked at aboutapparent magnitude 16.3 in 2012.[6] On 29 December 2077 the comet will pass 0.068 AU (10,200,000 km; 6,300,000 mi) from Mars.[7]
| Numbered comets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous 59P/Kearns–Kwee | 60P/Tsuchinshan | Next 61P/Shajn–Schaldach |
 | This comet-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
.png)
