| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | John Ewen Davidson |
| Discovery site | Mackay, Queensland |
| Discovery date | 19 July 1889 |
| Designations | |
| 1889e[2] 1889 IV | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch | 17 July 1889 (JD 2411200.5) |
| Observation arc | 115 days |
| Number of observations | 92 |
| Aphelion | 869.38 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.0397 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 435.21 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.997611 |
| Orbital period | ~9,100 years |
| Inclination | 65.992° |
| 287.712° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 345.862° |
| Last perihelion | 19 July 1889 |
| TJupiter | 0.526 |
| Physical characteristics[4] | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 6.5 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 5.0–6.0 |
| 4.0 (1889 apparition) | |
Comet Davidson, formal designationC/1889 O1, is anon-periodic comet that became visible to the naked eye in 1889.
Australian colonistJohn Ewen Davidson first spotted his comet through a telescope from his personal observatory on the night of 19 July 1889.[1] By coincidence, it is also the day of its perihelion.[3] He later reported his discovery to theMelbourne Observatory on 22 July 1889, noting it as a tail-less object now visible with the naked eye, located within the constellationCentaurus.[5][a] The comet'snucleus was reported to be around magnitude 5.0–6.0,[6] with acoma about 5 arcminutes in diameter.[7]
By 24 July 1889,John Tebbutt reported that the comet brightened to magnitude 4.0, with its nucleus surrounded by an extensive coma.[4] As the comet started to fade away in the following days, it was observed that its nucleus split into two fragments on 3 August 1889.[8]
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