68P/Klemola

DiscoveredbyArnold Richard Klemola ^[de]

DiscoverydateNovember 1965

Alternative designations

1965j 1965 VI, 1976j, 1976 X, 1987th, 1987th XIV

Aphelion8.032 AU

68P/Klemola

Discovery
Discovered by	Arnold Richard Klemola [de]
Discovery date	November 1965
Designations
Alternative designations	1965j 1965 VI, 1976j, 1976 X, 1987th, 1987th XIV
Orbital characteristics
Aphelion	8.032 AU
Perihelion	1.755 AU[1]
Semi-major axis	4.896 AU
Eccentricity	0.6407
Orbital period	10.82 a[2]
Inclination	11.1°[2]
Last perihelion	November 9, 2019[3][4][5] January 20, 2009
Next perihelion	2030-Nov-04[6]

68P/Klemola or Klemola's Comet is a periodic comet, which belongs to Jupiter's comet family, that was discovered in 1965 by American astronomer Arnold Richard Klemola ^[de] in Argentinian Yale-Columbia Southern Station.^[2] Its orbital period is 10.82 years.^[2]

It was observed at the next predicted apparition by Gérard Sause at the Observatoire de Haute Provence, France on 6 August 1976 with a brightness of magnitude 12. It was successfully observed in 1987 when J. Gibson of the Palomar Observatory, California, obtained images with the 1.5-meter reflector on 16 February. It appeared essentially stellar, with a faint magnitude of 19. It was observed again on 29 March 1997 by Carl W. Hergenrother at the F. L. Whipple Observatory, with perihelion on 1 May 1998.

68P came to opposition on 14 June 2019 and perihelion on November 9, 2019.^[3]