138P/Shoemaker–Levy
Periodic comet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
138P/ShoemakerâLevy, also known as ShoemakerâLevy 7, is a faint Jupiter-family comet with a 7-year orbit around the Sun. During its 2012 perihelion,[6] the comet brightened to about apparent magnitude 20.5.[7]
Discoverydate13 November 1991
P/1991 V2
P/1998 O1
P/1998 O1
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | |
| Discovery site | Palomar Observatory |
| Discovery date | 13 November 1991 |
| Designations | |
| P/1991 V2 P/1998 O1 | |
| ShoemakerâLevy 7 1991 XIX, 1991d1 | |
| Orbital characteristics[2][3] | |
| Epoch | 16 December 2008 (JD 2454816.5) |
| Observation arc | 33.84 years |
| Number of observations | 126 |
| Aphelion | 5.544 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.706 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.625 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.52941 |
| Orbital period | 6.91 a |
| Inclination | 10.079° |
| 309.44° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 95.558° |
| Mean anomaly | 177.91° |
| Last perihelion | 24 March 2026 2 May 2019 |
| Next perihelion | 18 January 2033[4] |
| TJupiter | 2.830 |
| Earth MOID | 0.750 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.900 AU |
| Physical characteristics[2] | |
Mean radius | 0.8 km (0.50 mi)[5] |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 16.6 |
There were 4 recovery images of 138P on 8 August 2018 by Pan-STARRS when the comet had a magnitude of about 21.5.[3] The comet came to perihelion on 2 May 2019, and next came to perihelion on 24 March 2026.[8]
