15P/Finlay (original) (raw)

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Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

15P/Finlay

Discovery
Discovered by	William Henry Finlay
Discovery date	September 26, 1886
Designations
Alternative designations	1886 S1; 1886 VII; 1886e; 1893 K1; 1893 III; 1893a; 1906 V; 1906d; 1919 II; 1919d; 1926 V; 1926d; 1953 VII; 1953i; 1960 VIII; 1960d; 1967 IX; 1967g; 1974 X; 1974d; 1981 XII; 1981e; 1988 IX; 1988f
Orbital characteristics
Epoch	2014-Dec-09(JD 2457000.5)
Aphelion	6.019 AU
Perihelion	0.976 AU
Semi-major axis	3.488 AU
Eccentricity	0.7202
Orbital period	6.51 a
Inclination	6.799°
Last perihelion	July 13, 2021[1]December 27, 2014[1][2]June 22, 2008
Next perihelion	2028-Feb-09[3]2034-Sep-082041-Apr-032047-Oct-252054-May-022060-Oct-03[4]
Earth MOID	0.009 AU (1.3 million km)[5]
Jupiter MOID	0.16 AU (24 million km)[5]
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	1.8 km (uncertain)[6]

Comet Finlay is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 6 years discovered by William Henry Finlay (Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa) on September 26, 1886. The next perihelion passage is July 13, 2021 when the comet will have a solar elongation of 54 degrees at approximately apparent magnitude 10.[7] It last came to perihelion on December 27, 2014,[2] at around magnitude 10.[7] Of the numbered periodic comets, the orbit of 15P/Finlay has one of the smallest minimum orbit intersection distances with the orbit of Earth (E-MOID).[8] In October 2060 the comet will pass about 5 million km from Earth.

When the first orbit calculations were made in 1886, there was a similarity between this orbit and that of Francesco de Vico's lost periodic comet of 1844 (54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT). Lewis Boss (Dudley Observatory, Schenectady, United States) noted large discrepancies between the orbits and after further observations concluded that de Vico's comet could not be the same as Finlay's.[9]

During the 1906 apparition the comet brightened to magnitude 6. In 1910 a close pass with Jupiter increased the orbital period, in 1919 the path was off predictions and a new comet discovered by Sasaki (Kyoto Observatory, Japan) on October 25, 1919, was discovered to be Finlay's.

The magnitude of the comet declined after 1926, and it was not until 1953 that it has been observed on every return.

During the 2014 perihelion passage the comet outburst on 16 December 2014 from magnitude 11 to magnitude 9 becoming bright enough to be seen in common binoculars with a 50 mm objective lens.[10] On December 23, 2014, 15P and Mars were only 1/6 of a degree apart in the sky after sunset.[10] But by December 23, 2014, the comet had dimmed considerably since the outburst. On 16 January 2015, the comet outburst to magnitude 8.[11]

15P/Finlay currently has an Earth-MOID of 0.009 AU (1,300,000 km; 840,000 mi).[5] The comet will come to perihelion six more times and then on October 22, 2060, the comet will pass roughly 0.0334 AU (5.00 million km; 3.10 million mi) from Earth with an uncertainty region of about ±2300 km.[5][12] This will be one of the closest comet approaches to Earth.[13]

Arids meteor shower

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Debris ejected during the 1995 perihelion passage generated a meteor shower on 29–30 September 2021 radiating from the southern constellation of Ara.[14] More outbursts are expected on 7 October 2021 from the 2008 and 2014 streams.

1. ^ a b c "15P/Finlay Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
2. ^ a b Syuichi Nakano (2011-11-05). "15P/Finlay (NK 2161)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
3. ^ a b "Horizons Batch for 15P/Finlay (90000257) on 2028-Feb-09" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2022-06-16. (JPL#K213/16 Soln.date: 2022-Mar-09)
4. ^ "Horizons Batch for 15P/Finlay (90000257) on 2060-Oct-03" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2022-06-16. (JPL#K213/16 Soln.date: 2022-Mar-09)
5. ^ a b c d "JPL Close-Approach Data: 15P/Finlay" (last observation: 2022-03-03). Archived from the original on 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
6. ^ M. Festou; H. U. Keller; Harold A. Weaver (2004). Comets II. University of Arizona Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-8165-2450-1.
7. ^ a b Seiichi Yoshida (2016-06-11). "15P/Finlay". Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
8. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Search Engine: numbered comets". JPL Solar System Dynamics. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
9. ^ Kronk, Gary W. "15P/Finlay". Cometography. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
10. ^ a b Bob King (2014-12-18). "Comet Finlay in Bright Outburst, Visible in Small Telescopes". Universe Today. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
11. ^ Michael Mattiazzo. "24324Re: [comets-ml] Re: Possible another outburst of 15P/Finlay?". Yahoo: comet-ml. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
12. ^ "Horizons Batch for 2060-Oct-22 Earth approach". JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
13. ^ Comet Close Approaches to the Earth
14. ^ "Electronic Telegram No. 5046 : ARID METEORS 2021". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Retrieved 2021-10-01.

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Horizons Ephemeris
• Elements and Ephemeris for 15P/Finlay – Minor Planet Center
• 15P at Kronk's Cometography
• 15P at Kazuo Kinoshita's Comets
• 15P at Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog
• 15P at CometBase database
• 2014 June 22 recovery at apmag 20 (comets-ml)
• 15P/Finlay on 18 Dec 2014 (200mm lens F5.6 / Rob Kaufman of Australia)
• Animation of 15P/Finlay by FRAM (0.3-m f/10 reflector + CCD, MPC I47), 17th and 18th Dec 2014 (Martin Masek)