Loading AI tools
111P/Helin–Roman–Crockett is a periodic comet in the Solar System. It was discovered by Eleanor and Ron Helin, Brian Roman and Randy Crockett on 5 January 1989 from images obtained on the 3rd and 4th of that month. It is a Jupiter family comet known for extremely close approaches to Jupiter being a Quasi-Hilda comet. During these approaches, it actually orbits Jupiter.[5] The last such approach was in 1976,[6] the next will be in 2071.[6] The Jovian orbits are highly elliptical and subject to intense Solar perturbation at apojove which eventually pulls the comet out of Jovian orbit for the cycle to begin anew.
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Eleanor F. Helin Ron Helin Brian P. Roman Randy L. Crockett Palomar Observatory (675) |
| Discovery date | January 5, 1989 |
| Designations | |
| 1988 XIII | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | March 6, 2006 |
| Aphelion | 4.607 AU |
| Perihelion | 3.474 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 4.041 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.1402 |
| Orbital period | 8.122 a |
| Inclination | 4.2326° |
| Last perihelion | June 15, 2021[1] January 30, 2013[2] December 27, 2004[3] |
| Next perihelion | 2029-Dec-09[4] |
Simulations predict such a cycle is unstable, the object will either be captured into an encounter orbit (e.g. Shoemaker-Levy 9) or expelled into a new orbit which does not have periodic approaches. This implies that 111P's orbit is recent within the past few thousand years. It fits the definition of an Encke-type comet with (TJupiter > 3; a < aJupiter).[7]
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
