81P/Wild
Comet 81P/Wild, also known as Wild 2 (pronounced "vilt two") (/ˈvɪlt/ VILT), is a comet named after Swiss astronomer Paul Wild, who discovered it on January 6, 1978, using a 40-cm Schmidt telescope at Zimmerwald, Switzerland.
Comet Wild 2 (81P/Wild) nucleus in 2004 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Paul Wild |
| Discovery date | 1978 |
| Designations | |
Alternative designations | 1978 XI; 1984 XIV; 1990 XXVIII |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | March 6, 2006 |
| Aphelion | 5.308 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.592 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.45 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.5384 |
| Orbital period | 6.408 a |
| Inclination | 3.2394° |
| Last perihelion | December 15, 2022 July 20, 2016 February 22, 2010 |
| Next perihelion | May 14, 2029 |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.012 AU (1,800,000 km) |
For most of its 4.5 billion-year lifetime, Wild 2 probably had a more distant and circular orbit. In September 1974, it passed within one million kilometers of the planet Jupiter, the strong gravitational pull of which perturbed the comet's orbit and brought it into the inner Solar System. Its orbital period changed from 43 years to about 6 years, and its perihelion is now about 1.59 astronomical units (AU).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.