C/1862 N1 (Schmidt)

C/1862 N1 (Schmidt), sometimes referred to as C/1862 N1 (Schmidt–Tempel), is a non-periodic comet discovered by Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt on 2 July 1862.

C/1862 N1 (Schmidt)

Discovery
Discovered by	Johann Schmidt Wilhelm Tempel
Discovery site	Athens Observatory
Discovery date	2 July 1862
Designations
Alternative designations	Comet Schmidt–Tempel 1862 II[1]
Orbital characteristics[2][3]
Epoch	4 July 1862 (JD 2401325.5)
Observation arc	29 days
Number of observations	72
Aphelion	~1,935 AU (inbound)
Perihelion	0.981 AU
Semi-major axis	~968 AU (inbound)
Eccentricity	0.99898 (inbound) 1.00002 (outbound)
Orbital period	~30,100 years (inbound)
Inclination	172.11°
Longitude of ascending node	328.44°
Argument of periapsis	27.166°
Mean anomaly	359.25°
Last perihelion	22 June 1862
Physical characteristics[4]
Comet total magnitude (M1)	9.4
Apparent magnitude	4–5 (1862 apparition)

Observational history

The comet was discovered on 2 July 1862 Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt, then director of the National Observatory of Athens, and a few hours later was discovered by Wilhelm Tempel, at Marseille Observatory. The comet upon discovery was located in the constellation Cassiopeia and Schmidt described the comet as being tailless, with a coma 22 arcminutes across, and visible with the naked eye. Temple estimated its magnitude to be 4–5. Schmidt observed the comet again on July 4 and noted a tail half a degree long.^[4]

The comet passed at a distance of 0.0982 AU (14.69 million km) from Earth on 4 July, making it the fourth closest known approach of a comet to Earth in the 19th century.^[5] Consequently the comet moved away from both the Earth and the Sun, while brightening moonlight hampered observations. The comet was last observed with the naked eye on 7 July. The comet faded rapidly throughout the month and it was last observed on 31 July.^[4]

Meteors

The comet has been tentatively associated with the weak meteor shower ζ Arietids, observed between 13 and 25 August. The minimum orbital intersection distance between the comet and Earth is 0.028 AU.^[6][7]