Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
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| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Arno Arthur Wachmann |
| Discovery date | May 2, 1930 |
| Alternative designations |
1930 VI; 1979 VIII; 1990 VIII; 1994w |
| Orbital characteristics A | |
| Epoch | 2011-Feb-08 (JD 2455600.5) |
| Aphelion | 5.184 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.9426 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.063 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.6923 |
| Orbital period | 5.36 yr |
| Inclination | 11.379° |
| Earth MOID | 0.014 AU (2,100,000 km) |
| Last perihelion | March 16, 2017 October 16, 2011 June 6, 2006 |
| Next perihelion | 2022-Aug-25 |
73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann, also known as Schwassmann–Wachmann 3, is a periodic comet in the Solar System that is in the process of disintegrating. Starting the 2011 perihelion passage the primary component 73P-C was recovered on 28 November 2010 near apparent magnitude 21.3; it came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 16 October 2011.
Comet Schwassmann–Wachmann 3, one of the comets discovered by astronomers by Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann, working at the Hamburg Observatory in Bergedorf, Germany, broke into fragments on its re-entry to the inner Solar System, May 1, 2006, in a reaction triggered by the Sun's heating the comet as it emerged from the frozen space of the outer Solar System.
Comet 73P is a parent body of meteor shower Tau Herculids.
The comet was discovered as astronomers were exposing photographic plates in search of minor planets for a minor planet survey, on May 2, 1930. The comet was lost after its 1930 apparition, but was observed several more times.
73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann has an orbital period of slightly less than 5 1/3 years so that it comes nearest to the Earth every 16 years. The primary fragment 73P-C has an Earth-MOID of 0.04 AU (6,000,000 km; 3,700,000 mi). 73P was originally estimated to have a core diameter of 1100 meters.
In 1995, 73P began to disintegrate. It was seen to break into four large pieces labeled 73P-A, B, C, & D. As of March 2006, at least eight fragments were known: B, C, G, H, J, L, M & N. On April 18, 2006, the Hubble Space Telescope recorded dozens of pieces of fragments B and G. It appears that the comet may eventually disintegrate completely and cease to be observable (as did 3D/Biela in the 19th century), in which case its designation would change from 73P to 73D. It is now known to have split into at least 66 separate objects. Nucleus C is the largest and the presumed principal remnant of the original nucleus.
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