C/1948 V1

Infobox Comet
name=C/1948 V1 (Eclipse Comet)


discoverer=
discovery_date=November 1, 1948
designations=Eclipse Comet, 1948 XI, 1948 V1
epoch=2432840.5
semimajor=2083 AU
perihelion=0.135 AU
aphelion=4167 AU
eccentricity=0.99994
period=95097 a
inclination= 23.1°
last_p=October 27, 1948
next_p=97045

The Eclipse Comet of 1948, formally known as C/1948 V1, was an especially bright comet discovered during a solar eclipse on November 1, 1948. Although there have been several comets that have been seen during solar eclipses, the Eclipse Comet of 1948 is arguably the best-known; it was however, best viewed only from the Southern Hemisphere.

When it was first discovered during totality, it was already quite bright, at magnitude -2; as it was near perihelion, this was its peak brightness.cite web|title=When was the last time we had two bright comets in the same year?|author=Dr. Sten Odenwald|publisher=Ask the Astronomer|url=http://www.astronomycafe.net/qadir/q2761.html|accessdate=2006-02-13] Its visibility during morning twilight improved as it receded outward from the Sun; it peaked near zero magnitude, and at one point displayed a tail roughly 30 degrees in length, before falling below naked eye visibility by the end of December.

References

External links

* [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1948V1;orb=1 Orbital simulation] from JPL (Java) / [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi?find_body=1&body_group=sb&sstr=1948V1 Ephemeris]