C/1942 EA (Väisälä)

For other comets also discovered by Yrjö Väisälä, see Comet Väisälä.

C/1942 EA (Väisälä) is a Halley-type comet with an orbital period of 85 years. It is the third of four comets discovered by Finnish astronomer, Yrjö Väisälä.^[a]

C/1942 EA (Väisälä)

Discovery
Discovered by	Yrjö Väisälä
Discovery site	University of Turku, Finland
Discovery date	11 March 1942
Designations
Alternative designations	Väisälä 2 1942 II, 1942c[1]
Orbital characteristics[2][3]
Epoch	15 February 1942 (JD 2430406.3162)
Observation arc	37 days[4]
Number of observations	7
Aphelion	33.93 AU
Perihelion	1.288 AU
Semi-major axis	19.41 AU
Eccentricity	0.93369
Orbital period	85.52 years
Inclination	37.865°
Longitude of ascending node	172.28°
Argument of periapsis	335.57°
Mean anomaly	0.452°
Last perihelion	16 February 1942
Next perihelion	6 December 2027[5][6]
TJupiter	1.386
Earth MOID	0.336 AU
Jupiter MOID	1.543 AU
Physical characteristics[4]
Comet nuclear magnitude (M2)	13.2
Apparent magnitude	12.0 (1942 apparition)

Observational history

A single photographic plate exposed by Väisälä on 11 March 1942 revealed two new star-like objects, later designated as 1942 EA and 1942 EC, within the constellation Leo.^[b] Due to the temperamental communications at the time caused by World War II, scientists were at first unable to distinguish the two objects apart, initially preventing orbital calculations to be done.^[3]