138P/Shoemaker–Levy

For other comets of the same name, see Comet Shoemaker and Comet Levy.

Not to be confused with Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9.

138P/Shoemaker–Levy, also known as Shoemaker–Levy 7, is a faint Jupiter-family comet with a 7-year orbit around the Sun. During its 2012 perihelion,^[5] the comet brightened to about apparent magnitude 20.5.^[6]

138P/Shoemaker–Levy

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	C. S. Shoemaker E. M. Shoemaker David H. Levy
Discovery site	Palomar Observatory
Discovery date	13 November 1991
Designations
MPC designation	P/1991 V2 P/1998 O1
Alternative designations	Shoemaker–Levy 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°
Longitude of ascending node	309.44°
Argument of periapsis	95.558°
Mean anomaly	177.91°
Last perihelion	2 May 2019
Next perihelion	24 March 2026
TJupiter	2.830
Earth MOID	0.750 AU
Jupiter MOID	0.900 AU
Physical characteristics[2]
Mean radius	0.8 km (0.50 mi)[4]
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 the next perihelion is 24 March 2026.^[7]