81P/Wild 2 |
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Past, Present, and Future Orbits by Kazuo Kinoshita |
![]() Copyright © 2004 by Jet Propulsion Laboratory
These images of the nucleus of periodic comet Wild 2 were taken by the Stardust space probe on 2004 January 2. They were shot within minutes of the closest approach to the nucleus. Details released on the right-hand image indicate it is a 10-millisecond exposure. Discovery Paul Wild (Astronomical Institute of Berne, Switzerland) discovered this comet on photos exposed by him on 1978 January 6 and 8. He said the comet was between magnitude 13.5 and 14, with a marked condensation. The discovery was announced on IAU Circular 3166 (1978 January 26). Meanwhile, Wild had photographed the comet again on January 25. This observation allowed Brian G. Marsden to determine the comet moved in a short-period orbit of about 6.15 years. Historical Highlights
[Perihelion Date=1997 May 6.63; Period=6.39 years] [Perihelion Date=2003 September 25.94; Period=6.40 years] This comet was visited by STARDUST, NASA's comet sample return mission, on 2004 January 2. Stardust flew through the coma on the sunward side of the nucleus and missed the nucleus by just 240 kilometers. STARDUST has a panel containing a material called aerogel, which collected samples of the comet's dust. These samples will be returned to Earth on 2006 January 15.
Additional Images ![]() Copyright © 1997 by M. Tichy and Z. Moravec (Klet' Observatory, Czech Republic)
The image of comet 81P/Wild 2 was taken on 1997 January 15.936 UT with 0.57-m f/5.2 reflector + CCD camera SBIG ST-8 of Klet' Observatory and is 60 seconds exposure. The field of view is 16 to 10 arcminutes with north to the top and west to the right.
![]() Copyright © 1997 by Gianluca Masi (Ceccano, Italy)
This image of comet Wild 2 was taken by G. Masi on 1997 March 3 at 18:57 UT. It was a 12-minute exposure obtained with a 15-cm f/5 reflector and an SBIG ST-7 CCD.
![]() Copyright © 1997 by Michael Brown (University of Melbourne)
Michael Brown obtained this image using the 40-inch telescope at Siding Spring Observatory on 1997 April 1. It was actually shot through clouds.
![]() Copyright © 1997 by Brad D. Wallis (California, USA)
This image of comet 81P was taken on 1997 April 7.27 UT with a 0.32-m f/5.9 Ritchey telescope, an SBIG ST-7 CCD camera, and a minus-IR filter. The image was composed of eleven 5-minute exposures.
![]() Copyright © 1997 by Masayuki Suzuki (Japan)
This image was taken on 1997 May 18, using a 0.20-m f/10 telescope and a CCD camera. The image is a 60-second exposure.
![]() Copyright © 2003 by David Higgins (Hunters Hill Observatory, Canberra, Australia)
This image was taken on 2003 January 11.92, using a 0.25-m SCT f/5 and an SX MX516 ccd camera. The image was composed of thirty 30-second exposures. The coma was 20.6 arc seconds across, while the tail extended 22.4 arc seconds toward PA 315°. The image was originally white with black stars and the webmaster reversed this to better represent the appearance of the comet. |