C/1902 G1 (Brooks)

For other comets discovered by William R. Brooks, see Comet Brooks.

Comet Brooks, also known by its modern designation C/1902 G1, is a non-periodic comet that was only observed for five days in April 1902. Bright moonlight conditions and unfavorable weather conditions prevented additional observations of the comet.^[7] As a result, orbital calculations for it were not sufficient to obtain a hyperbolic or near-parabolic orbit around the Sun.^[5]

C/1902 G1 (Brooks)

Drawing of the comet C/1902 G1 by its discoverer, William Robert Brooks, on 15 April 1902.[1]
Discovery[1][2]
Discovered by	William R. Brooks
Discovery site	Smith Observatory
Discovery date	15 April 1902
Designations
Alternative designations	1902 I, 1902a[3]
Orbital characteristics[4]
Epoch	7 May 1902 (JD 2415877.296)
Observation arc	5 days
Number of observations	9
Perihelion	0.444 AU
Eccentricity	~1.000
Inclination	65.301°
Longitude of ascending node	54.033°
Argument of periapsis	229.621°
Last perihelion	7 May 1902
Physical characteristics[5]
Mean radius	0.239 km (0.149 mi)[a]
Comet total magnitude (M1)	11.7
Apparent magnitude	8.5 (1902 apparition)

Orbit

Despite having a short observation arc of only five days, astronomers were still able to calculate a parabolic trajectory for the comet.^[5] S. K. Winther and Robert Grant Aitken used positions recorded between 16–17 April 1902 to create a parabolic trajectory with a perihelion date of 6 May 1902.^[7] At the same time, Armin Otto Leuschner and his colleagues calculated that the comet may have a 0.88-year elliptical orbit around the Sun, the shortest of any comet known,^[8] where they also noted that it is probably the same object as C/1748 K1 (Klinkenberg),^[9] however their calculations were later refuted.^[5] Heinrich Kreutz, Elis Strömgren and S. Scharbe revised Aitken's calculations using positions up to 20 April 1902, concluding that the comet must have reached perihelion by 7 May 1902.^[5]