C/1996 J1 (Evans–Drinkwater)

Comet Evans–Drinkwater, also known as C/1996 J1, is a non-periodic comet that was observed between May 1996 and December 1998. It is known to have split into two large fragments about 70 days before reaching perihelion,^[4] however the second fragment was only first observed by May 1997.^[5]

C/1996 J1 (Evans–Drinkwater)

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Robert O. Evans Michael J. Drinkwater
Discovery site	Siding Spring Observatory (UK Schmidt Telescope)
Discovery date	10 May 1996
Orbital characteristics[2][3]
Epoch	27 January 1998 (JD 2450840.5)
Observation arc	2.60 years (951 days)
Number of observations	522
Perihelion	1.298 AU
Eccentricity	1.00103
Inclination	22.516°
Longitude of ascending node	278.17°
Argument of periapsis	14.801°
Mean anomaly	0.009°
Last perihelion	30 December 1996
Earth MOID	0.293 AU
Comet total magnitude (M1)	9.8 (A) 12.9 (B)
Comet nuclear magnitude (M2)	10.0 (B)