Comet West
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- There is another long-period comet West: C/1978 A1 (a.k.a. 1977 IX, 1978a).
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | Richard M. West |
| Discovery date: | August 10, 1975 |
| Alternate designations: | C/1975 V1, 1976 VI, 1975n |
| Orbital characteristics A | |
| Epoch: | 2442840.5 |
| Aphelion distance: | 13560 AU |
| Perihelion distance: | 0.58 AU |
| Semi-major axis: | 6,780.20 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.99997 |
| Orbital period: | 558,306.4201 a |
| Inclination: | 43.0664° |
| Last perihelion: | February 25, 1976 |
| Next perihelion: | 560,282 |
Comet West formally designated C/1975 V1, 1976 VI, and 1975n, was a spectacular comet, sometimes considered to qualify for the status of "great comet".
Contents |
[edit] Discovery
It was discovered photographically by Richard M. West,on August 10, 1975, and reached peak brightness in March 1976, attaining a brightness of -3 at perihelion. During peak brightness, observers reported that it was bright enough to study during full daylight.
Despite its spectacular appearance, Comet West went largely unreported in the popular media. This was partly due to the relatively disappointing display of Comet Kohoutek in 1973, which had been widely predicted to become extremely prominent: scientists were wary of making predictions that might raise public expectations.[1]
The comet has an estimated orbital period of 558,000 years.
[edit] Breakup
During the passage of Comet West into the inner solar system, possibly for the first time in 500,000 years, its nucleus was observed to split into four fragments as it passed within
[edit] Nomenclature
In the nomenclature of the time, it was known as Comet 1976 VI or Comet 1975n, but the modern nomenclature is C/1975 V1. (Note that "1976 VI" uses the Roman numeral VI = 6, while "C/1975 V1" is the letter V and the number 1).
[edit] References
- ^ Burnham, R. and Levy, D. Great Comets, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 73
