157P/Tritton

Comet 157P/Tritton on 5 September 2022 by ZTF with fragment B visible
Discovery
Discovered by	Keith Tritton
Discovery date	February 11, 1978
Designations
Alternative designations	1977 XIII
Orbital characteristics
Epoch	2023-02-25
Aphelion	5.519 AU
Perihelion	1.572 AU
Semi-major axis	3.545 AU
Eccentricity	0.5566
Orbital period	6.675 a
Inclination	12.42°
Last perihelion	2022-Sep-09 [1] June 10, 2016 [2] February 20, 2010
Next perihelion	2028-Mar-07 (B) [3] 2029-May-18 [4]

157P/Tritton is a periodic comet with a 6-year orbital period . Fragment B was first observed on 21 August 2022. ^[5]

Observational history [ edit ]

Keith Tritton ( U. K. Schmidt Telescope Unit , Coonabarabran) discovered this comet on a deep IIIa-J exposure made with the 122-cm Schmidt telescope on 1978 February 11.66. ^[6]

The comet was not detected during the predicted returns of 1984, 1990 or 1996 and was presumed lost. However, on 2003 October 6.44, using CCD images obtained with a 0.12-m refractor, C. W. Juels (Fountain Hills, Arizona, USA) and P. Holvorcem (Campinas, Brazil) detected a comet that proved to be on a similar orbit to the lost comet. B. G. Marsden was able to calculate a new orbit, published in IAU Circular No. 8215, issued 2003 October 7, which confirmed that it was indeed identical to comet Tritton. ^[6]

The comet was also recovered at its 2010, 2016, and 2022 apparitions. On 2 October 2022 the discovery of a new fragment of the comet was published in MPEC 2022-T23. ^[5] With a smaller orbit, fragment B should come to perihelion in 2028 March ^[3] and the primary fragment should come to perihelion in 2029 May ^[4] (1y 2m 11d later).

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Horizons Ephemeris
• 157P/Tritton ? Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net
• 157P at Gary W. Kronk's Cometography