C/1892 E1 (Swift)

For other comets discovered by Lewis A. Swift, see Comet Swift.
C/1892 E1 (Swift)
The comet on 5 April 1892 photographed by Edward Emerson Barnard
Discovery
Discovered byLewis A. Swift
Discovery date7 March 1892
Designations
1892a, 1892 I
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch27 July 1892 (JD 2412306.5)
Observation arc230 days
Number of
observations		53
Aphelion1,710 AU
Perihelion1.027 AU
Semi-major axis860 AU
Eccentricity0.9988
Orbital period25,000 years
Inclination38.701°
242.428°
Argument of
periapsis		24.504°
Last perihelion7 April 1892
TJupiter0.986
Earth MOID0.058 AU
Jupiter MOID1.63 AU
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		3.2

C/1892 E1 (Swift) is a non-periodic comet discovered by Lewis A. Swift on 7 March 1892. The comet became visible with naked eye.

Observational history

The comet was discovered by Lewis A. Swift on 7 March 1892 using the 11-cm telescope at Warner Observatory in Rochester, New York. The comet was then located in Sagittarius. at a solar elongation of 65°, and moving eastwards. Edward Emerson Barnard spotted the comet with naked eye on 8 March and estimated its magnitude to be 5–6. He described the comet as having a round coma about 8 arcminutes across and a faint tail.[2]

At that point the comet was moving both towards Earth and the Sun. On 10 March Johann Holetschek estimated its magnitude to be 4. On 16 March E. E. Barnard said it was quite easily seen with naked eye. A photograph of the comet from 11 March showed the comet had five rays emanating from the nucleus, the longest of which was 35 arcminutes long. The closest approach to Earth took place on 27 March, at a distance of 1.05 AU, while perihelion took place on 7 April.[2]

In April the comet was better visible from the southern hemisphere. On 2 and 8 April, J. M. Thorne from Cordoba, Argentina estimated the comet had a magnitude a little brighter than 3 and a tail 15 degrees long, which however couldn't be observed with naked eye. Barnard photographed the comet on 7 April and noted the tail forked into two branches. Chinese sources claim a "broom star" was visible between 28 March 1892 and 26 April 1892.[2]

In May the comet faded as it was moving away from both Earth and the Sun. On May 1, the comet's head was reported to be of 4th magnitude by Backhouse while on May 28 Holetschek estimated the comet's magnitude to be 5.5. Schur reported the comet had a tail about 1.5 degrees long on 27. By June 10 the comet was hardly visible with naked eye and on 27 June its magnitude was reported by A. Abetti to be 7. On August 30 its magnitude had dropped to 8, as estimated by Holetschek.[2]

The comet was last observed on 16 February 1893, when it was at distance of 4.78 AU from Earth and 4.3 AU from the Sun.[2]

References

  1. ^ "C/1892 E1 (Swift) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Kronk, Gary W. (2003). Cometography: a catolog of comets. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 674–680. ISBN 9780521585057.