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Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | James E. Gunn |
Discovery date | October 17, 1970 |
Designations | |
1969 II; 1976 III; 1982 X; 1989 XI; | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch | March 6, 2006 |
Aphelion | 4.737 AU |
Perihelion | 2.444 AU |
Semi-major axis | 3.59 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.3194 |
Orbital period | 6.803 a |
Inclination | 10.3867° |
Last perihelion | October 16, 2017[1] March 2, 2010 May 11, 2003 |
Next perihelion | 2025-Jun-16[2] |
65P/Gunn is a periodic comet in the Solar System which has a current orbital period of 6.79 years. The comet is a short-period comet, orbiting the Sun every 6.79 years inside the main asteroid belt between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.[3]
It was discovered on 11 October 1970 by Professor James E. Gunn of Princeton University using the 122-cm Schmidt telescope at the Palomar Observatory. It had a low brightness of magnitude 16 plus which improves to 12 under favourable conditions. In 1972 Elizabeth Roemer managed to observe 65P/Gunn close to aphelion.[4]
On 4 February 1970 the comet passed 0.015 AU (2,200,000 km; 1,400,000 mi) from Ceres.[5]
In 1980 was noticed that a 19th magnitude comet found in plates obtained by Palomar Observatory on 8 August 1954[6] was a previous apparition of 65/Gunn. The link was confirmed by Brian G. Marsden.[7]