C/1942 C1 (Whipple–Bernasconi–Kulin)

For other comets discovered by Fred L. Whipple, see Comet Whipple.

Comet Whipple–Bernasconi–Kulin, formally designated as C/1942 C1, is a non-periodic comet that was observed from December 1941 to January 1943. It was independently discovered by three astronomers, Fred Lawrence Whipple, Giovanni Bernasconi and György Kulin, respectively.

C/1942 C1 (Whipple–Bernasconi–Kulin)

Comet W–B–K photographed by George van Biesbroeck on 10 March 1942.[1]
Discovery
Discovered by	Fred L. Whipple Giovanni Bernasconi György Kulin
Discovery site	Harvard, USA Como, Italy Konkoly, Hungary
Discovery date	25 January 1942 10–13 February 1942
Designations
Alternative designations	1942 IV, 1942a[2]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch	29 March 1942 (JD 2430447.5)
Observation arc	70 days
Earliest precovery date	28 December 1941
Number of observations	8
Perihelion	1.445 AU
Eccentricity	1.00102
Inclination	79.454°
Longitude of ascending node	340.93°
Argument of periapsis	223.41°
Mean anomaly	–0.001°
Last perihelion	30 April 1942
Earth MOID	0.622 AU
Jupiter MOID	1.615 AU
Physical characteristics[4]
Comet total magnitude (M1)	4.4
Comet nuclear magnitude (M2)	8.6
Apparent magnitude	5.92 (1942 apparition)

See also

• C/1948 L1 (Honda–Bernasconi)