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144P/Kushida

144P/Kushida
Comet 144P/Kushida 2008/2009 Appearance - Courtesy Hunter Wilson
Discovery
Discovered byYoshio Kushida
Discovery dateJanuary 8, 1994
Orbital characteristics
Epoch2024-01-11
Aphelion6.26 AU
Perihelion1.399 AU
Semi-major axis3.832 AU
Eccentricity0.6349
Orbital period7.5 yr
Inclination3.932°
Last perihelionAugust 30, 2016[1]
January 26, 2009
Next perihelion2024-Jan-25[2]
Jupiter MOID0.008 AU (1,200,000 km)[3]

144P/Kushida is a periodic comet discovered in January, 1994, by Yoshio Kushida at the Yatsugatake South Base Observatory in Japan. This was the first comet discovery of 1994 and his second discovery within a month. It last came to perihelion on 25 January 2024, and brightened to about magnitude 10.[4]

144P/Kushida closest Mars approach on 2119-May-18[3]
Date & time of
closest approach 		Mars distance
(AU) 		Sun distance
(AU) 		Velocity
wrt Mars
(km/s) 		Velocity
wrt Sun
(km/s) 		Uncertainty
region
(3-sigma) 		Reference
2119-May-17 11:19 ± 13 minutes 0.049 AU (7.3 million km; 4.6 million mi; 19 LD) 1.68 AU (251 million km; 156 million mi) 13.6 28.6 ± 13 thousand km Horizons

Based on data gathered during the period of January 9–11, 1994 Syuichi Nakano calculated the date of perihelion to be 1993 December 5.33 and the distance of perihelion as 1.36 AU. The low inclination to the ecliptic suggested to Nakano that the comet could be a short period type. On January 14, 1994 Daniel W. E. Green confirmed Nakano's suggestion and published a short-period orbit on IAU Circular 5922. Based on 29 positions obtained during the period of January 9–13, Green determined a perihelion date of 1993 December 12.99, a perihelion distance of 1.37 AU, and an orbital period of 7.20 years.

Using over 300 positions obtained between January 7 and July 9, 1994 Patrick Rocher refined the calculations and determined the perihelion distance as 1.367 AU, the perihelion date as 1993 December 12.862, and the orbital period as 7.366 years.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Syuichi Nakano (2009-03-18). "144P/Kushida (NK 1753)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
  2. ^ "144P/Kushida Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  3. ^ a b "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 144P/Kushida" (last observation: 2023-08-19). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  4. ^ Seiichi Yoshida (2018-12-04). "144P/Kushida". Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
[edit]


Numbered comets
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