Honda himself was an interesting character and a legend in post-war Japan. ![]() Click to open in a new window.Ĭomet 45/P was discovered by the Japanese astronomer Minoru Honda in December 1948, and nearly simultaneous observations were made by the Czech astronomer Antonin Mrkos and Slovak astronomer Ludmila Pajdušáková. Map courtesy of Sky and Telescope magazine. The comet reaches peak brightness in early February and is visible with binoculars. Click to open in a new window.Ĭomet 45/P moves through the northern constellations Bootes, Canes Venatici, and Ursa Major in February and March 2017 in the early morning sky. Comet 45/P moves through Capricorn in early January and is visible with binoculars in the western evening sky after sunset. In images, the comet is already showing a short, straight ion tail. It will not likely become bright enough to see with the unaided eye, but it will be easily visible in binoculars. Astronomers expect the comet to reach peak brightness in early-to-mid February. For the rest of January, the comet is lost in the Sun’s glare, but it reappears in the early morning sky from mid-February through mid-March (see second map). The first map below, courtesy of Sky and Telescope magazine, shows the position of Comet 45/P through mid-January when it’s visible in the constellation Capricorn in the western sky after sunset. As it speeds away from Earth in March and April, the comet moves into the constellation Leo. From December through January, the comet will swing through the constellation Capricorn, disappear into the sunset, then pick up speed when it reappears and move northwestward into Aquila, Hercules, Corona Borealis, Bootes, and Coma Berenices during February. Astronomers estimate the comet’s brightness will peak just a little fainter than 6th magnitude in January and through February 2017 before beginning to fade. On February 11, 2017, will come within 0.08 AU (7.47 million miles) of Earth, a close approach but still far enough to pose no risk of impact. The famous Comet 1/P Halley, by contrast, has a nucleus ten times as wide.ĭuring its latest visit, Comet 45/P reached perihelion (its closest approach to the Sun) on December 31, 2016. That’s fairly close in cosmic terms and just 22x the Earth-Moon distance. The precise size of the Comet 45/P’s nucleus is uncertain, but it’s likely about 0.5 km to 1.6 km across. During this apparition, the comet came within 0.06 AU (5.58 million miles) of Earth on August 15, 2011. The last closest approach to the Sun of Comet 45/P came on September 28, 2011. You’ll need binoculars to see it, but it’s worth following this little leftover hunk of the early solar system. As it passes close to Earth in February, it will brighten and appear to move quickly across the sky from day to day. It made its closest approach to the Sun on Decemand it’s visible now. Comet 45/P Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková, a tiny piece of ice and dust left over from the earliest days of the solar system, moves periodically around the Sun every 5.25 years. ![]() Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova imaged by amateur astronomer Tim Puckett in 2011.Ī little periodic comet is visiting the inner solar system over the next few months.
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