C/1854 L1 (Klinkerfues)
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Wilhelm Klinkerfues |
| Discovery date | 6 June 1854 |
| Designations | |
| 1854 III[1] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2][3] | |
| Epoch | 22 May 1854 (JD 2398360.5) |
| Observation arc | 54 days |
| Number of observations | 262 |
| Perihelion | 0.648 AU |
| Semi-major axis | ~480 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99866 |
| Orbital period | ~10,600 years |
| Inclination | 131.69° |
| 346.88° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 344.95° |
| Mean anomaly | 359.20° |
| Last perihelion | 22 June 1854 |
| Physical characteristics[4][5] | |
Mean diameter | ~4.8 km (3.0 mi) |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 6.4 |
| 4.0 (1854 apparition) | |
C/1854 L1 (Klinkerfues) is a non-periodic comet that became barely visible to the naked eye between June and July 1854. It is the second of six comets discovered by the German astronomer, Wilhelm Klinkerfues.
Orbit
Initial orbital calculations by Friedrich Winnecke in 1855 resulted in a parabolic trajectory for the comet.[6] Several attempts to compute an elliptical orbit were conducted since then, including by Klinkerfues himself where he noted that the orbit of C/1854 L1 is similar to those of the comets that appeared in 961 (C/962 B2) and 1558 (C/1558 P1) respectively.[4] The possibility that C/1854 L1 is related to the comet of 961 AD was further explored in 1981, where it was tentatively assigned as the parent body of the ε-Eridanid meteor stream.[7] This resulted in a Halley-type orbital period of approximately 127 years,[5] however further calculations by Jeremie Vaubaillon and Peter Jenniskens ruled out a link between the two comets, as the simulated dust generated did not match those observed in the aforementioned 1981 meteor shower.[5]
A more definitive orbit was calculated by Richard L. Branham, Jr. in 2013, where he concluded that the comet has a highly-elliptical orbit that is completed once every 10,600 years and thus presents no immediate threat to Earth.[2]
References
- ^ "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ a b R. L. Branham Jr. (2013). "Orbit of Comet C/1854 L1 (Klinkerfues)" (PDF). Planetary & Space Science. 85: 289–292. Bibcode:2013P&SS...85..289B. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2013.06.023.
- ^ "C/1854 L1 (Klinkerfues) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ a b G. W. Kronk (2003). Cometography: A Catalog of Comets. Vol. 2: 1800–1899. Cambridge University Press. pp. 234–236. ISBN 978-0-521-58505-7.
- ^ a b c J. Vaubaillon; P. Jenniskens (2007). "Dust trail evolution applied to long-period comet C/1854 L1 (Klinkerfues) and the ε-Eridanids". Advances in Space Research. 39 (4): 612–615. Bibcode:2007AdSpR..39..612V. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2005.11.001.
- ^ F. A. Winnecke; C. F. Pape (1855). "Bahnbestimmung des Cometen 1854 III". Astronomische Nachrichten (in German). 42 (8): 113. Bibcode:1855AN.....42..113W. doi:10.1002/asna.18550420801.
- ^ E. Lyytinen; P. Jenniskens (2003). "Meteor outbursts from long-period comet dust trails" (PDF). Icarus. 162 (2): 443–452. Bibcode:2003Icar..162..443L. doi:10.1016/S0019-1035(02)00071-4.
External links
- C/1854 L1 at the JPL Small-Body Database