C/1955 L1 (Mrkos)

Not to be confused with C/1855 L1 (Donati).

For other comets discovered by Antonín Mrkos, see Comet Mrkos.

Comet Mrkos, formally designated as C/1955 L1, is a long-period comet with an approximately 350-year orbit around the Sun.^[4] It is one of several comets discovered by Czech astronomer, Antonín Mrkos.

C/1955 L1 (Mrkos)

Comet Mrkos photographed by Elizabeth Roemer from the Lick Observatory on 17 June 1955.[1]
Discovery[2]
Discovered by	Antonín Mrkos
Discovery site	Lomnický štít, Czechoslovakia
Discovery date	12 June 1955
Designations
Alternative designations	1955 III, 1955e[3]
Orbital characteristics[4]
Epoch	14 July 1955 (JD 2435302.5)
Observation arc	84 days
Number of observations	21
Aphelion	98.547 AU
Perihelion	0.534 AU
Semi-major axis	49.540 AU
Eccentricity	0.98921
Orbital period	~350 years
Inclination	86.503°
Longitude of ascending node	48.942°
Argument of periapsis	32.506°
Mean anomaly	0.113°
Last perihelion	4 June 1955
Next perihelion	~2300s
TJupiter	0.160
Earth MOID	0.399 AU
Jupiter MOID	0.192 AU
Physical characteristics[5]
Comet nuclear magnitude (M2)	6.6
Apparent magnitude	4.5 (1955 apparition)