173P/Mueller

For other comets of the same name, see Comet Mueller.

173P/Mueller, also known as Mueller 5, is a periodic comet in the Solar System with an orbital period of 13.6 years.

173P/Mueller

Discovery
Discovered by	Jean Mueller
Discovery date	November 20, 1993
Designations
Alternative designations	1993 W1; 1994 XXV; 2005 T1
Orbital characteristics
Epoch	March 6, 2006
Aphelion	7.202 AU
Perihelion	4.213 AU
Semi-major axis	5.707 AU
Eccentricity	0.2618
Orbital period	13.64 a
Inclination	16.4919°
Last perihelion	December 16, 2021[1][2] May 18, 2008
Next perihelion	2035-Aug-29[3]

The comet was discovered by Jean Mueller in plates exposed on 20 November 1993 as part of the second Palomar Sky Survey. The comet had an apparent magnitude of 17.5–18 and a tail about 80 arcseconds long.^[4] The comet was recovered by Eric J. Christensen in images obtained on 6 October 2005 during the Mount Lemmon Survey. The comet then han an apparent magnitude of 18–18.4.^[5]

The nucleus of the comet is estimated to have a radius of 4.28+0.95
−1.17 km based on infrared imaging by the Spitzer Space Telescope.^[6]