* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Comet 96P/Machholz 1

Blobrana · L

Comet 96P/Machholz is at Opposition (3.241 AU) on the 28th June, 2013

Ephemeris

Date    TT    R. A. (2000) Decl.     Delta      r     Elong.  Phase   Mag
2013 06 26    18 32 26.4 -27 53 33   3.2302  4.2431   174.6     1.3  23.1
2013 06 27    18 31 10.4 -27 56 13   3.2357  4.2493   175.1     1.2  23.1
2013 06 28    18 29 54.5 -27 58 48   3.2415  4.2554   175.3     1.1  23.1
2013 06 29    18 28 38.8 -28 01 19   3.2477  4.2616   175.2     1.1  23.1
2013 06 30    18 27 23.4 -28 03 45   3.2543  4.2677   174.8     1.2  23.1

Blobrana · L

Two fragments have broken off Comet Machholz

The well-known short period comet 96P/Machholz is believed to be related to a couple of meteor streams, an asteroid, two entire groups of comets that SOHO observes/discovers, and likely a few individual SOHO objects as well. This relationship is the result of centuries of repeated fragmentations and gravitational interactions with Jupiter and the Sun.
Read more

Blobrana · L

Comet 96P/Machholz makes its closest approach to the Earth (0.894 AU) on the 1st August, 2012.

Blobrana · L

Comet 96P/Machholz 1, at magnitude ~7.5, is visible in the evening sky

Blobrana · L

Comet 96P/Machholz is at Perihelion (0.124 AU) on the 14th July, 2012.

Blobrana · L

Expand (203kb, 560 x 560)

SOHO LASCO C3

Blobrana · L

Comet 96P/Machholz makes its closest approach to the Earth (0.932 AU) on the 24th June, 2012.

Blobrana · L

Comet 96P/Machholz or 96P/Machholz 1 is a short-period comet discovered on May 12, 1986 by amateur astronomer Donald Machholz on Loma Prieta peak, in central California using 130 millimetres (5.1 in) binoculars. On June 6, 1986, comet 96P/Machholz passed 0.40373 AU (60,397,000 km) from the Earth. Comet 96P/Machholz will next come to perihelion on July 14, 2012. 96P/Machholz has an estimated radius of around 3.2km.
Machholz 1 is unusual among comets in several respects. Its highly eccentric 5.2 year orbit has the smallest perihelion distance known among numbered/regular short-period comets, bringing it considerably closer to the Sun than the orbit of Mercury. It is also the only known short-period comet with both high orbital inclination and high eccentricity. In 2007, Machholz 1 was found to be both carbon-depleted and cyanogen-depleted, a chemical composition nearly unique among comets with known compositions. The chemical composition implies a different and possible extrasolar origin.
Source

Google earth file: Comet 96PMachholz 1.kmz (20kb, kmz)

Ephemeris

Date    TT    R. A. (2000) Decl.     Delta      r     Elong.  Phase   Mag
2012 06 01    01 59 12.3 -31 44 39   1.1680  1.1903    65.7    50.9  14.2
2012 06 05    02 24 38.3 -29 50 09   1.1019  1.1142    63.4    54.5  13.8
2012 06 10    02 58 45.8 -26 41 48   1.0311  1.0148    59.5    59.5  13.1
2012 06 15    03 34 58.0 -22 34 34   0.9766  0.9099    54.3    65.0  12.5
2012 06 20    04 12 24.6 -17 24 01   0.9422  0.7984    47.9    70.9  11.7
2012 06 25    04 50 07.8 -11 13 28   0.9317  0.6788    40.5    76.5  10.8
2012 06 30    05 27 22.8 -04 12 54   0.9485  0.5488    32.2    80.7   9.8
2012 07 01    05 34 45.1 -02 43 41   0.9554  0.5213    30.5    81.3   9.5
2012 07 02    05 42 06.3 -01 12 49   0.9636  0.4932    28.7    81.6   9.2
2012 07 03    05 49 26.9 +00 19 42   0.9729  0.4644    26.9    81.8   8.9
2012 07 04    05 56 47.7 +01 53 59   0.9836  0.4350    25.1    81.7   8.6
2012 07 05    06 04 09.8 +03 30 12   0.9955  0.4050    23.2    81.3   8.3
2012 07 06    06 11 34.8 +05 08 36   1.0087  0.3742    21.3    80.6   7.9
2012 07 07    06 19 04.9 +06 49 37   1.0232  0.3426    19.3    79.2   7.5
2012 07 08    06 26 42.9 +08 33 46   1.0390  0.3104    17.3    77.3   7.0
2012 07 09    06 34 33.4 +10 21 53   1.0560  0.2774    15.2    74.3   6.4
2012 07 10    06 42 42.8 +12 15 05   1.0739  0.2440    13.0    70.0   5.8
2012 07 11    06 51 20.7 +14 14 52   1.0924  0.2107    10.7    63.6   5.1
2012 07 12    07 00 41.9 +16 23 07   1.1106  0.1784     8.2    54.2   4.2
2012 07 13    07 11 08.1 +18 41 22   1.1265  0.1497     5.4    40.1   3.4
2012 07 14    07 23 04.3 +21 08 09   1.1361  0.1294     2.6    21.2   2.6
2012 07 15    07 36 35.7 +23 33 20   1.1345  0.1242     2.1    17.2   2.4
2012 07 16    07 51 02.2 +25 39 49   1.1203  0.1365     4.8    38.1   2.9
2012 07 17    08 05 32.2 +27 18 43   1.0983  0.1611     7.5    55.7   3.7
2012 07 18    08 19 45.0 +28 32 24   1.0734  0.1917    10.1    67.7   4.5
2012 07 19    08 33 40.5 +29 26 13   1.0485  0.2246    12.4    75.6   5.3
2012 07 20    08 47 23.7 +30 04 23   1.0249  0.2581    14.5    80.8   6.0
2012 07 21    09 00 58.8 +30 29 46   1.0030  0.2914    16.6    84.3   6.6
2012 07 22    09 14 28.1 +30 44 14   0.9832  0.3240    18.6    86.5   7.1
2012 07 23    09 27 52.6 +30 49 01   0.9654  0.3560    20.5    87.8   7.5
2012 07 24    09 41 12.0 +30 45 02   0.9497  0.3872    22.4    88.4   7.9
2012 07 25    09 54 24.9 +30 32 59   0.9361  0.4177    24.3    88.6   8.3
2012 07 26    10 07 29.8 +30 13 29   0.9244  0.4475    26.1    88.4   8.6
2012 07 27    10 20 24.4 +29 47 03   0.9147  0.4766    28.0    87.9   8.9
2012 07 28    10 33 06.7 +29 14 15   0.9069  0.5051    29.8    87.1   9.2
2012 07 29    10 45 34.3 +28 35 36   0.9010  0.5329    31.6    86.1   9.5
2012 07 30    10 57 45.2 +27 51 41   0.8969  0.5602    33.4    85.0   9.7
2012 07 31    11 09 37.6 +27 03 05   0.8946  0.5870    35.1    83.7  10.0

Blobrana · L

Astronomers have discovered a new comet which raises the possibility that it did not originate in our solar system, but instead escaped from another star.
According to a report in New Scientist, David Schleicher of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, US, found the comet.
Schleicher measured the chemical makeup of 150 comets, and found that they all had similar levels of the chemical cyanogen (CN) except for Machholz 1, which has less than 1.5 percent of the normal level.
Along with some other comets, it is also low on the molecules carbon2 and carbon3.
Schleicher has suggested three possible explanations for the origin of the comet, among which the simplest is that Machholz 1 could have formed in an extremely cold region of the solar system.

Read more