| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Jean Chacornac |
| Discovery site | Marseille, France |
| Discovery date | 16 May 1852 |
| Designations | |
| Alternative designations | 1852 II |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 20 April 1852 (JD 2397598.5873) |
| Observation arc | 28 days |
| Earliest precovery date | 7 May 1852 |
| Number of observations | 31 |
| Perihelion | 0.905 AU |
| Eccentricity | ~1.000 |
| Inclination | 131.12° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 319.27° |
| Argument of periapsis | 37.206° |
| Last perihelion | 20 April 1852 |
| Earth MOID | 0.012 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Apparent magnitude | 9.8 (1852 apparition) |
Chacornac's Comet, formally designated as C/1852 K1, is a faint parabolic comet that was observed through telescopes between May and June 1852. It is the only comet discovered by French astronomer, Jean Chacornac, and is the parent body of the Eta Eridanids meteor shower.
Discovery and observations
Jean Chacornac made his only comet discovery from the Marseille Observatory on 16 May 1852, where he spotted a "faint, diffuse object" without a discernible tail nor nucleus on the constellation Cepheus. He later confirmed his discovery the following day.
References
Notes
- Alternatively, the periodic comet 273P/Pons–Gambart is also considered as the parent body of the Eta Eridanids. However, recent evidence suggests that C/1852 K1 (Charconac) is the much more likely candidate from where this meteor shower originated.
- Reported initial position upon discovery was: α = 22 34 , δ = 66° 00′
Citations
- "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
- "C/1852 K1 (Chacornac) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
- ^ K. Ohtsuka; T. Tanigawa; H. Murayama; I. Hasegawa (6–10 August 2001). The new meteor shower η Eridanids. Proceedings of the Meteoroids. Kiruna, Sweden. pp. 109–112. Bibcode:2001ESASP.495..109O. ISBN 92-9092-805-0.
- ^ G. W. Kronk (2003). Cometography: A Catalog of Comets. Vol. 2: 1800–1899. Cambridge University Press. pp. 208–210. ISBN 978-0-521-58505-7.
- P. Jenniskens; D. S. Lauretta; M. C. Towner; S. Heathcote; E. Jehin; et al. (2021). "Meteor showers from known long-period comets". Icarus. 365: 114469. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114469. ISSN 0019-1035.
External links
- C/1852 K1 at the JPL Small-Body Database
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