Copyright©1995 by Herman Mikuz (Crni Vhr Observatory, Slovenia)
This V-filter image was obtained by H. Mikuz on 1995 November 20 with the 36-cm, f/6.8 S-C telescope and CCD. Exposure time was 300s, starting at 18:36:49 UT.
Discovery
During mid-1969, several astronomers from Kiev visited the Alma-Ata Astrophysical Institute to conduct a survey of comets. On September 20, while still at Alma-Ata, Klim Ivanovic Churyumov examined a photograph exposed for periodic comet Comas Solá by Svetlana Ivanovna Gerasimenko on September 11.92, and found a cometary object near the edge of the plate which he assumed was the expected periodic comet. Upon returning to Kiev, the plates went under intense scrutiny. Precise positions were determined for all of the observed comets, as well as estimates of the coma diameter, and photographic magnitude estimates of the comet and nucleus. On October 22, it was realized that the position determined for P/Comas Solá was 1.8° from the expected position based on observations from other observatories. Further examination revealed P/Comas Solá in the proper position, near the limit of the photographic plate, which meant a new comet had been found. They estimated the magnitude of the new comet as 13, and said it had a faint coma 0.6 arc minute across, with a central condensation about 0.3 arc minute across. There was also a faint tail extending 1 arc minute toward PA 280 degrees.
Historical Highlights
Additional images were found on a plate exposed by Gerasimenko on September 9.91, and on a plate exposed by Churyumov on September 21.93. The magnitude was estimated as 13 on the first date and 12 on the second.
The comet experienced a very favorable appearance during 1982, with the closest distance from the sun occurring on November 12 (1.3062 AU) and the closest distance to Earth (0.3910 AU) occurring on November 27. Interestingly, the comet continued to brighten throughout December as it headed away from both the sun and Earth, with amateur astronomers finding total magnitudes of 9 to 9.5. Around Christmas, Alan Hale (California) was even able to detect the comet with 10x50 binoculars.
The comet's 1989 appearance was its longest observed apparition. Recovered on 1988 July 6, it was last seen on 1991 May 16, at which time it was situated 4.02 AU from Earth and 4.98 AU from the sun.
The 1996 appearance was another rather favorable one, although the comet never came closer than 0.9040 AU from Earth (1995 October 7). The comet had become brighter than magnitude 13 at the end of 1995 and continued to brighten. It passed perihelion on 1996 January 17, and with the distances from the Earth and sun increasing thereafter, it continued to brighten for another month. After reaching a maximum brightness of nearly 10.5 in February the comet faded and had dropped below magnitude 13 my mid-April. The coma diameter never exceeded two arc minutes during this apparition.
The European Space Agency announced on 2003 May 28 that the Rosetta comet-chasing space probe will have a new target: periodic comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The spacecraft will be launched during February of 2004 and should rendezvous with the comet during November of 2014. To learn more about Rosetta go to the following web site: http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/.
Additional Images
Copyright © 1995 by Tim Puckett
This image was taken by Tim Puckett (Villa Rica, Georgia, USA) on 1995 November 13.06, using a 0.30-m f/7 Meade LX-200 and an SBIG ST-6 CCD camera. It is a 300-second exposure.
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