177P/Barnard

Infobox Comet
name=177P/Barnard


discoverer=Edward Emerson Barnard
discovery_date=June 24, 1889
designations=177P/1889 M1; 1889 III; 1889c; 177P/2006 M3
epoch=August 13, 2006 (JD 2453960.5)
semimajor=24.170 AU
perihelion=1.1077 AU
aphelion=47.232 AU
eccentricity=0.95416
period=118.83 a
inclination=31.161°
last_p=August 28 2006
next_p=April 13 2127 cite web | last = Yeomans | first = Donald K. | url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi | title=Horizon Online Ephemeris System | publisher=California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory | accessdate=2006-09-08]
Comet 177P/Barnard, also known as Barnard 2, is a periodic comet in the solar system.

The comet, also designated P/2006 M3, discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard on June 24 1889, and was re-discovered after 116 years.cite web|author=Naoyuki Kurita|publisher=Stellar Scenes|title=Comet Barnard 2 on Aug 4, 2006|url=http://www.ne.jp/asahi/stellar/scenes/comet_e/barnard2_060804.htm|accessdate=2006-09-01] On July 19 2006, 177P came within 0.36 AU of the Earth.cite web|publisher=Kazuo Kinoshita|date=2006 Nov. 18|title=177P/Barnard|url=http://www9.ocn.ne.jp/~comet/pcmtn/0177p.htm|accessdate=2007-01-06] From late July through September of 2006 it was brighter than expected at 8th magnitude in the constellations Hercules and then Draco. Perihelion was August 28 2006.

Of Barnard's other two periodic comets, the first, D/1884 O1 (Barnard 1) was last seen on November 20, 1884 and is thought to have disintegrated. The last, D/1892 T1 (Barnard 3) marked the beginning of a new era in cometary astronomy, as it was the first to be discovered by photography. It was last seen on December 8, 1892, and is now considered lost.

References

External links

* [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=177P;orb=1;view=Far Orbital simulation] from JPL (Java) / [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi?find_body=1&body_group=sb&sstr=177P Ephemeris]
* [http://cometography.com/pcomets/177p.html 177P at Kronk's Cometography]