59P/Kearns–Kwee

59P/Kearns–Kwee is a periodic comet in the Solar System with a current orbital period of 9.49 years.^[3][5]

59P/Kearns–Kwee

Comet Kearns–Kwee photographed from the Zwicky Transient Facility on 31 January 2019
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Charles E. Kearns Kiem King Kwee
Discovery site	Palomar Observatory
Discovery date	17 August 1963
Designations
MPC designation	P/1963 Q1, P/1971 O1
Alternative designations	1963 VIII, 1972 XI 1981 XX, 1990 XXV 1963d, 1971c, 1981h 1989u
Orbital characteristics[2][3]
Epoch	25 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5)
Observation arc	55.62 years
Number of observations	1,849
Aphelion	6.618 AU
Perihelion	2.348 AU
Semi-major axis	4.483 AU
Eccentricity	0.47617
Orbital period	9.492 years
Inclination	9.344°
Longitude of ascending node	312.79°
Argument of periapsis	127.52°
Mean anomaly	168.35°
Last perihelion	16 September 2018
Next perihelion	15 March 2028
TJupiter	2.771
Earth MOID	1.381 AU
Jupiter MOID	0.006 AU
Physical characteristics[4]
Mean radius	0.79±0.03 km
Geometric albedo	0.04 (assumed)
Comet total magnitude (M1)	10.4
Comet nuclear magnitude (M2)	14.7

Observational history

It was discovered by Charles E. Kearns and Kiem King Kwee on a photographic plate taken on 17 August 1963 during a search for the then-lost comet 55P/Tempel–Tuttle, and was later confirmed by Elizabeth Roemer at the US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station in Arizona. She estimated its brightness at a faint magnitude of 16. The perihelion was initially calculated as 28 October 1963 and the periodicity as 8.48 years, but calculations based on further observations revised the data to 7 December and 8.95 years.

The 1972 apparition was observed by Elizabeth Roemer and L. M. Vaughn of the University of Arizona, using the 229-cm reflector at Kitt Peak as early as 26 July 1971. It was relocated in 1981 by Tsutomu Seki of Japan and again on 10 September 1989 by J. Gibson at Palomar Observatory. It was also successfully re-observed in 1999 and 2009.

Physical characteristics

The nucleus of the comet has an effective radius of 0.79±0.03 km, assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04.^[4]

See also

• List of numbered comets