56P/Slaughter–Burnham
Discovery
Discovered byCharles D. Slaughter
Robert Burnham
Discovery dateJanuary 27, 1959
Designations
1958 VI; 1970 V; 1981 XVIII;
1993 X
Orbital characteristics
EpochMarch 6, 2006
Aphelion7.679 AU
Perihelion2.535 AU
Semi-major axis5.107 AU
Eccentricity0.5036
Orbital period11.54 a
Inclination8.1558°
Last perihelionJuly 18, 2016[1]
January 14, 2005
Next perihelion2027-Dec-19[2]
Jupiter MOID0.02 AU (3,000,000 km)[3]

56P/Slaughter–Burnham is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a period of 11.54 years.[4]

It was discovered in 1959 by Charles D. Slaughter and Robert Burnham of the Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona during a photographic survey. They spotted the comet, with a faint brightness of magnitude 16, on a plate exposed on 10 December 1958. By monitoring its movement over a series of consecutive days, Elizabeth Roemer was able to calculate its orbit, suggesting a perihelion date of 4 August 1958 and an orbital period of 11.18 years.

It was subsequently observed in 1970, 1981, 1993, 2005 and 2016. Its next perihelion will be on December 19, 2027.[5]

The nucleus of the comet has a radius of 1.55 kilometers based on observations by Keck.[6]

References

  1. Syuichi Nakano (2005-10-27). "56P/Slaughter-Burnham (NK 1272)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  2. MPC
  3. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 56P/Slaughter-Burnham" (last observation: 2017-01-08). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 2017-02-26.
  4. "56P/Slaughter-Burnham". Kronk's Cometography. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  5. "56P/Slaughter-Burnham appearances". Seiichi Yoshida. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  6. Meech, K.J.; Hainaut, O.R.; Marsden, B.G. (August 2004). "Comet nucleus size distributions from HST and Keck telescopes". Icarus. 170 (2): 463–491. Bibcode:2004Icar..170..463M. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.03.014.


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