Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Alphonse Borrelly |
Discovery date | December 28, 1904 |
Designations | |
1905 II; 1911 VIII; 1918 IV; 1925 VIII; 1932 IV; 1953 IV; 1960 V; 1967 VIII; 1974 VII; 1981 IV; 1987 XXXIII; 1994 XXX | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch 2022-08-09 ( JD 2459800.5) | |
Aphelion | 5.90 AU [1] |
Perihelion | 1.306 AU [1] |
3.61 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.6377 |
6.85 yr | |
Inclination | 29.30° |
2028-Dec-11
[2] February 1, 2022 (last) [1] | |
Earth MOID | 0.36 AU (54 million km) |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 8×4×4 km [3] |
2.4 km [4] | |
Mass | 2×1013 kg [5] |
Mean
density | 0.3 g/cm3 [6] |
Albedo | 0.03 [7] |
Perihelion distance at recent epochs [1] | |||||||
Epoch |
Perihelion ( AU) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2028 | 1.310 [2] | ||||||
2022 | 1.306 | ||||||
2015 | 1.349 | ||||||
2008 | 1.355 |
Comet Borrelly /bɒˈrɛli/ or Borrelly's Comet (official designation: 19P/Borrelly) is a periodic comet, which was visited by the spacecraft Deep Space 1 in 2001. The comet last came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on February 1, 2022 [1] [8] and will next come to perihelion on December 11, 2028. [2]
Date & time of closest approach |
Earth distance ( AU) |
Sun distance (AU) |
Velocity wrt Earth (km/s) |
Velocity wrt Sun (km/s) |
Uncertainty region ( 3-sigma) |
Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2028-Dec-05 19:12 ± 6 min | 0.413 AU (61.8 million km; 38.4 million mi; 161 LD) | 1.31 AU (196 million km; 122 million mi; 510 LD) | 17.3 | 33.3 | ± 41 thousand km | Horizons |
Deep Space 1 returned images of the comet's nucleus from 3400 kilometers away. At 45 meters per pixel, it was the highest resolution view ever seen of a comet. [9]
The comet was discovered by Alphonse Borrelly during a routine search for comets at Marseilles, France on December 28, 1904.
On September 21, 2001 the spacecraft Deep Space 1, which was launched to test new equipment in space, performed a flyby of Borrelly. It was steered toward the comet during the extended mission of the craft, and presented an unexpected bonus for the mission scientists. Despite the failure of a system that helped determine its orientation, Deep Space 1 managed to send back to Earth what were, at the time, the best images and other science data from a comet.
Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Alphonse Borrelly |
Discovery date | December 28, 1904 |
Designations | |
1905 II; 1911 VIII; 1918 IV; 1925 VIII; 1932 IV; 1953 IV; 1960 V; 1967 VIII; 1974 VII; 1981 IV; 1987 XXXIII; 1994 XXX | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch 2022-08-09 ( JD 2459800.5) | |
Aphelion | 5.90 AU [1] |
Perihelion | 1.306 AU [1] |
3.61 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.6377 |
6.85 yr | |
Inclination | 29.30° |
2028-Dec-11
[2] February 1, 2022 (last) [1] | |
Earth MOID | 0.36 AU (54 million km) |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 8×4×4 km [3] |
2.4 km [4] | |
Mass | 2×1013 kg [5] |
Mean
density | 0.3 g/cm3 [6] |
Albedo | 0.03 [7] |
Perihelion distance at recent epochs [1] | |||||||
Epoch |
Perihelion ( AU) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2028 | 1.310 [2] | ||||||
2022 | 1.306 | ||||||
2015 | 1.349 | ||||||
2008 | 1.355 |
Comet Borrelly /bɒˈrɛli/ or Borrelly's Comet (official designation: 19P/Borrelly) is a periodic comet, which was visited by the spacecraft Deep Space 1 in 2001. The comet last came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on February 1, 2022 [1] [8] and will next come to perihelion on December 11, 2028. [2]
Date & time of closest approach |
Earth distance ( AU) |
Sun distance (AU) |
Velocity wrt Earth (km/s) |
Velocity wrt Sun (km/s) |
Uncertainty region ( 3-sigma) |
Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2028-Dec-05 19:12 ± 6 min | 0.413 AU (61.8 million km; 38.4 million mi; 161 LD) | 1.31 AU (196 million km; 122 million mi; 510 LD) | 17.3 | 33.3 | ± 41 thousand km | Horizons |
Deep Space 1 returned images of the comet's nucleus from 3400 kilometers away. At 45 meters per pixel, it was the highest resolution view ever seen of a comet. [9]
The comet was discovered by Alphonse Borrelly during a routine search for comets at Marseilles, France on December 28, 1904.
On September 21, 2001 the spacecraft Deep Space 1, which was launched to test new equipment in space, performed a flyby of Borrelly. It was steered toward the comet during the extended mission of the craft, and presented an unexpected bonus for the mission scientists. Despite the failure of a system that helped determine its orientation, Deep Space 1 managed to send back to Earth what were, at the time, the best images and other science data from a comet.