12P/Pons–Brooks

12P/Pons–Brooks is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 71 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with (20 years < period < 200 years).[1] Comet Pons-Brooks was discovered at Marseilles Observatory in July 1812 by Jean-Louis Pons, and then later recovered in 1883 by William Robert Brooks.[8]

12P/Pons–Brooks
Sketch of comet Pons-Brooks on 20 January 1884 by E.E. Barnard
Discovery
Discovered byJean-Louis Pons
William Robert Brooks
Discovery dateJuly 12, 1812
Designations
1812; 1884 I; 1954 VII;[1] C/1457 A1; C/1385 U1[2][3]
Orbital characteristics
Epoch2024-05-10[4]
Aphelion33.616 AU
Perihelion0.78078 AU
Semi-major axis17.199 AU
Eccentricity0.95460
Orbital period71.32 yr
69y 10m 30d (perihelion to perihelion)
Inclination74.191°
Last perihelionMay 22, 1954[5][4]
January 25, 1884
September 15, 1812
Next perihelionApril 21, 2024[6][lower-alpha 1]
Earth MOID0.176 AU (26.3 million km)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions34±12 km[7]

The next perihelion passage is 21 April 2024,[6][lower-alpha 1] with closest approach to Earth being 1.54 AU (230 million km) on 2 June 2024.[9] The comet nucleus is estimated to be around 30 km in diameter assuming it was not producing too much dust and gas during the 2020 photometry.[7]

12P/Pons–Brooks may be the parent body of the December κ-Draconids meteor shower.[10]

Observational history

Before 1812

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks has been identified as a comet observed in 1385 and in 1457. The 1385 apparition was very favourable and the comet was recorded by the Chinese in Ming Shilu and was also mentioned in some European sources. A comet observed by Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli in January 1457 and also mentioned in Chinese sources is also identified as comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. In both apparitions the comet had a magnitude of 3 or brighter, not accounting for possible outbursts. It is possible that it was also a comet recorded in Chinese sources in September 245 CE.[2]

The comet has been suggested by So-Yeon Park and Jong-Chul Chae that was also the comets recorded in Asian sources in 1313 and 1668.[11] However, Meyer et al argue that in the 1313 apparition, the comet would have been difficult to observe, being dim and close to the Sun, while the suggested position in Gemini contradicts the calculated location of comet Pons-Brooks in Aries. The March 1668 comet described by Koreans is probably the bright sungrazing comet observed by Europeans, whose orbit is no way compatible with that of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks.[2]

Discovery
Sketches of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from 21 and 22 January 1884

Comet 12P/Pons–Brooks was discovered on July 12, 1812, by Jean-Louis Pons. Independently, this comet was later found by Vincent Wisniewski on August 1, and Alexis Bouvard on August 2 the same year. The comet was spotted with the naked eye on 13 August and by the end of the month a tail measuring 2 degrees in length was reported.[12] Shortly after its initial discovery it was found to have an orbital period of about 70 years with an error of about 5 years. Johann Franz Encke determined a definitive orbit with a period of 70.68 years. This orbit was used to generate an ephemeris for the 1883-4 return.[12]

In 2 September 1883 a (faint) comet was accidentally discovered by William Robert Brooks and later identified with the comet of 1812. The comet became visible with naked eye in 20 November and brighted up to a magnitude of 3. The comet was reported to experience outbursts on January 1 and January 19.[12] This year it traveled from Scheat and Markab in western Pegasus, 13 January 1884; southward (through Pisces) to reach perihelion below Iota and Beta Ceti (~RA 0h, Dec. -10°) around 24 January.[13] It was last seen in June 1884.[12]

After 1884

The comet was recovered on 20 June 1953. During March 1954 the comet experienced an outburst. On April 23, the comet had an estimated magnitude of 6.4 and its tail was half a degree long.[14] Pons–Brooks came to perihelion on May 22, 1954[5] when it was 1.7 AU from Earth. After perihelion it became better visible from the south hemisphere. It was last observed on 4 September 1954.[14] On 10 December 1954, the meteor stream of comet Pons–Brooks passed about 0.12 AU (18 million km) from Earth, resulting in potential meteors impacting Earth`s atmosphere at relative velocity 45 km/s.[15]

On 10 June 2020 Pons–Brooks was recovered at apparent magnitude 23 by the Lowell Discovery Telescope when the comet was beyond the orbit of Saturn at 11.9 AU (1.78 billion km) from the Sun,[16][7] with the uncertainty in the comet's heliocentric distance being roughly ±10000 km.[17] The perihelion passage is in April 2024.[7]

Orbit
Earth close approach
Date Distance (AU) Solar
elongation
1884-Jan-09[12]0.63 AU (94 million km)58°
1954-Jun-291.6 AU (240 million km)38°
2024-Jun-02[9]1.5 AU (220 million km)45°
2095-Aug-271.5 AU (220 million km)31°

Libration is locked at a 6:1 resonance with Jupiter.[18] The Tisserand invariant with respect to Jupiter (J) is 0.60.[19] Aphelion (furthest point from the Sun) is just beyond the orbit of Neptune at 33 AU (4.9 billion km).

With a steep orbital inclination of 74.2° this comet does not spend a lot of time near the ecliptic. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) website shows that between the years 1900 and 2200, that the comet was and will be most significantly perturbed by Saturn on July 29, 1957. At that point it passed within 1.6AU of the giant planet's influence; even this approach had negligible effect.[1] The comet's orbit appears to be stable between 1740 and 2167, with no strong perturbations by any of the planets.[12][20]

Kirkwood in 1884 noticed that Pons-Brooks shares elements with De Vico's comet of 1846. He suggested that the latter had calved off Pons-Brooks some centuries prior.[21] Later he identified the two comets' capture into their elliptical orbits (or their parent body's capture) with their shared aphelion close to Neptune 991 CE.[22]

Other comets with a similar orbital period include 13P/Olbers, 23P/Brorsen-Metcalf, and 1P/Halley.

Meteor showers

12P/Pons–Brooks is possibly the parent body of the December κ-Draconids meteor shower. This the most abundant of the meteor showers predicted to be related to the comet. One more nighttime meteor shower has been tentatively associated with 12P/Pons–Brooks, the northern June Aquilids, although most probably isn't the parent body.[10] Comet Pons–Brooks could also create a meteor shower complex in Venus along with periodic comets 122P/de Vico and 27P/Crommelin.[23]

Notes
  1. JPL Horizons ephemeris generated by JPL K242/3 (Soln.date: 2022-Jun-21) has 12P/Pons-Brooks coming to perihelion at 2024-Apr-21 03:30. The Minor Planet Center's unperturbed two-body solution (Sun+comet) gives a less accurate date of 2024-04-20.47. JPL SBDB (using an epoch of 2010) gives an even less accurate unperturbed date of 2024-Apr-19.89. See table.

References
  1. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 12P/Pons-Brooks" (last observation: 2022-06-06). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  2. Meyer, Maik; Kobayashi, Takao; Nakano, Syuichi; Green, Daniel E. (2020). "Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks: Identification with Comets C/1385 U1 and C/1457 A1". International Comet Quarterly. arXiv:2012.15583.
  3. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks-Identical to comets C/1457 A1 and C/1385 U1 (Maik Meyer)
  4. "12P/Pons-Brooks Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  5. 12P/Pons-Brooks – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net
  6. "Horizons Batch for 12P/Pons-Brooks (90000223) at 2024-Apr-21 03:16 (2024-Apr-21.136)" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2023-02-11. (JPL#K242/3 Soln.date: 2022-Oct-24)
  7. Quanzhi, Ye; Farnham, Tony L.; Knight, Matthew M.; Holt, Carrie E.; Feaga, Lori M. (2020). "Recovery of Returning Halley-Type Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks With the Lowell Discovery Telescope". American Astronomical Society. 4 (7): 101. arXiv:2007.01368. Bibcode:2020RNAAS...4..101Y. doi:10.3847/2515-5172/aba2d1. S2CID 220347511.
  8. Yeomans, D. K. (April 1986). "The intermediate comets and nongravitational effects". Astronomical Journal. 91 (4): 971-973. Bibcode:1986AJ.....91..971Y. doi:10.1086/114073. ISSN 0004-6256.
  9. "Closest Approach to Earth on 2 June 2024 (1 hour interval)" (Closest Earth approach occurs when deldot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2022-06-23. (90000223 JPL#K242/3 Soln.date: 2022-Jun-21)
  10. Tomko, D.; Neslusan, L. (2016). "Meteoroid stream of 12P/Pons-Brooks, December κ-Draconids, and Northern June Aquilids". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 592: A107. Bibcode:2016A&A...592A.107T. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201628404.
  11. Park, So-Yeon; Chae, Jong-Chul (31 December 2007). "ANALYSIS OF KOREAN HISTORICAL COMET RECORDS". Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society. 22 (4): 151–168. doi:10.5303/PKAS.2007.22.4.151.
  12. Kronk, Gary W. (2001–2005). "12P/Pons-Brooks". Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2009-05-07. (Cometography Home Page)
  13. William Dawson (1884). "The Pons-Brooks Comet". The Friend. 57: 194.
  14. Porter, J. G. (1 April 1955). "Comets (1954)". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 115 (2): 190–198. doi:10.1093/mnras/115.2.190.
  15. Chebotarev, G. A.; Kazimirchak-Polonskaya, E.I.; Marsden, B. G. (1972). The Motion, Evolution of Orbits, and Origin of Comets. D. Reidel Publishing Company. p. 473. ISBN 978-94-010-2875-2. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  16. "MPEC 2020-M114 : OBSERVATIONS AND ORBITS OF COMETS AND A/ OBJECTS". IAU Minor Planet Center. 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  17. Horizons output. "Observer Table for Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks" (Soln.date: 2020-Jun-29). Retrieved 2020-08-08. (Observer Location:@sun and Table Settings: 39. Range)
  18. Carusi et al. (1987), p. 900.
  19. Carusi et al. (1987), p. 899.
  20. Carusi et al. (1987), p. 905.
  21. Kirkwood, Daniel (February 1884). "The Comet of 1812 and 1883". Popular Science Monthly. Vol. 24. pp. 488–491.
  22. Kirkwood, Daniel (January 1886). "The Comets 1812 I, and 1846 IV". The Sidereal Messenger. 5: 13–14. Bibcode:1886SidM....5...13K.
  23. Christou, A. A. (March 2010). "Annual meteor showers at Venus and Mars: lessons from the Earth". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 402 (4): 2759–2770. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.16097.x.
Sources
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