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21P/Giacobini-Zinner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | Michel Giacobini, Ernst Zinner |
| Discovery date: | December 20, 1900 |
| Alternate designations: | 1900 III; P/1900 Y1; 1913 V; P/1913 U1; 1926 VI; 1933 III; 1940 I; 1946 V; 1959 VIII; 1966 I; 1972 VI; 1979 III; 1985 XIII; 1992 IX |
| Orbital characteristics A | |
| Epoch: | March 6, 2006 |
| Aphelion distance: | 6.014 AU |
| Perihelion distance: | 1.038 AU |
| Semi-major axis: | 3.526 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.7056 |
| Orbital period: | 6.621 a |
| Inclination: | 31.8108° |
| Last perihelion: | July 2, 2005 |
| Next perihelion (predicted): | 2012 |
Comet Giacobini-Zinner is a periodic comet in our solar system, and was discovered by Michel Giacobini (Nice, France) in Aquarius on December 20, 1900.
It was recovered two passages later, by Ernst Zinner (Bamberg, Germany) while observing variable stars near Beta Scuti on October 23, 1913. During its apparitions, the comet can reach about 8th magnitude, but in 1946 it underwent a series of outbursts that made it as bright as 5th magnitude.
It is the parent body of the Giacobinids meteor shower (also known as the Draconids). It was the target of the International Cometary Explorer spacecraft, which passed through its plasma tail on September 11, 1985.
| Comets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous periodic comet | 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | Next periodic comet |
| List of periodic comets | ||