C/1912 R1 (Gale)

For the other comets discovered by Walter F. Gale, see 34D/Gale and C/1894 G1 (Gale).

C/1912 R1 (Gale) is a non-periodic comet that was observed between September 1912 and May 1913. It is the second of three comets discovered by Australian astronomer, Walter Frederick Gale.

C/1912 R1 (Gale)

Gale's Comet photographed by Ferdinand Quénisset on 14–16 October 1912.[1]
Discovery[2]
Discovered by	Walter Frederick Gale
Discovery site	Sydney, Australia
Discovery date	9 September 1912
Designations
Alternative designations	1912 II, 1912a[3]
Orbital characteristics[4]
Epoch	19 November 1912 (JD 2419725.5)
Observation arc	207 days
Number of observations	30
Perihelion	0.716 AU
Eccentricity	1.00045
Orbital period	3.3 million years (inbound)[5]
Inclination	79.810°
Longitude of ascending node	298.25°
Argument of periapsis	25.623°
Mean anomaly	0.0007°
Last perihelion	5 October 1912
Earth MOID	0.257 AU
Jupiter MOID	1.523 AU
Physical characteristics[6]
Comet total magnitude (M1)	6.1
Apparent magnitude	4.0 (1912 apparition)