Comet Donati, formally designated as C/1864 R1, is a parabolic comet discovered in 1864. It was the last of five comets discovered by Italian astronomer, Giovanni Battista Donati.[3]
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Giovanni B. Donati |
| Discovery site | Florence, Italy |
| Discovery date | 10 September 1864 |
| Designations | |
| 1864 I[1] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch | 28 July 1864 (JD 2402080.8118) |
| Observation arc | 29 days |
| Number of observations | 20 |
| Perihelion | 0.6261 AU |
| Eccentricity | ~1.000 |
| Inclination | 134.982° |
| 176.881° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 346.095° |
| Last perihelion | 28 July 1864 |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 7.0 |
Discovery and observations
editThe comet was already on its outbound flight when it was first spotted by Giovanni Battista Donati on the night of 10 September 1864, where it was initially located within the constellation Leo Minor.[a] As a result, further observations of the comet became increasingly difficult as it slowly faded away, leading to astronomers being unable to obtain its precise orbital elements.[4] The last known observation of the comet was recorded on 20 October 1864.[4]
References
editNotes
editCitations
edit- ^ "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
- ^ "C/1864 R1 (Donati) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
- ^ "Giovanni Battista Donati". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ a b c G. W. Kronk (1999). Cometography: A Catalog of Comets. Vol. 2: 1800–1899. Cambridge University Press. pp. 331–332. ISBN 978-0-521-58505-7.
External links
edit- C/1864 R1 at the JPL Small-Body Database
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