P/1997 C1 (Gehrels)

P/1997 C1 (Gehrels)

A. Nakamura photo of P/1997 C1 exposed on 1997 February 4

This CCD image was taken on 1997 February 4.71 UT, using a 0.60-m f/6 Ritchey-Chretien telescope.

Discovery

Tom Gehrels (Lunar and Planetary Laboratory) visually discovered this comet during a routine Spacewatch session On 1997 February 1. It was described as magnitude 17.9 with a condensation 7 arcsec in diameter and a fuzzy tail extending 0.5 arcmin toward the west. Three positions were determined before he announced his find to the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. The Central Bureau issued a request for confirmation to a select few observatories and J. Ticha and M. Tichy (Klet Observatory) confirmed the comet on February 2.

Historical Highlights

The first orbit computed for this comet was a parabolic one by Brian G. Marsden (Central Bureau) on February 3. Using 20 positions obtained during the period of February 1 to 3, he determined a perihelion date of 1998 April 20.93 and a perihelion distance of 2.17 AU. He commented, "It seems likely that the comet is of short period." This was confirmed on February 19, when Marsden published an elliptical orbit based on only two weeks of observations. The perihelion date was given as 1995 December 17.88, the perihelion distance was 3.546 AU, and the orbital period was 17.04 years. The comet was observed until 1998 February 2 and orbits computed using the year of observations indicated a perihelion date of 1996 January 29.22, a perihelion distance of 3.565 AU, and an orbital period of 17.39 years.
The comet was diverted into the discovery orbit because it passed only 0.092 AU from Saturn on 1987 June 24. Prior to this encounter the orbital period was 20.79 years and the perihelion distance was 4.74 AU.

Additional Images

1997 December 31--0.9-m Spacewatch telescope

James V. Scotti image of P/1997 C1 exposed on 1997 December 31

This image was taken by James V. Scotti (Spacewatch) on 1997 December 31. It shows the comet as a faint, diffuse object displaying a faint tail roughly extending toward the right. He used a 0.9-m Spacewatch telescope. The image measures 4.5 arcmin across, with north at the top and west to the right.

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