C / 1973 E1 (Kohoutek)
| C / 1973 E1 (Kohoutek) [i] | |
|---|---|
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| Properties of the orbit ( animation ) | |
| Orbit type | long-period |
| Numerical eccentricity | 1 |
| Perihelion | 0.14 AU |
| Inclination of the orbit plane | 14.3 ° |
| Perihelion | December 28, 1973 |
| Orbital velocity in the perihelion | 112 km / s |
| history | |
| Explorer | Luboš Kohoutek |
| Date of discovery | March 7, 1973 |
| Older name | 1973 XII, 1973f |
| Source: Unless otherwise stated, the data comes from JPL Small-Body Database Browser . Please also note the note on comet articles . | |
C / 1973 E1 (Kohoutek) , often referred to simply as Comet Kohoutek , is a long-period comet that crossed the inner solar system in 1973.
The comet was discovered on March 7, 1973 by the Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutek in the Hamburg observatory by comparing celestial photographs from the area of the constellation Water Snake. It reached its perihelion on December 28, 1973. The comet received a lot of attention in the media as well as in the professional world, but developed much weaker than expected. The tabloid BILD wrote on June 20, 1973: "Huge comet is racing towards our earth ..." According to a report in the popular science magazine Bild der Wissenschaft , NASA postponed the start of the Skylab 3 crew to use their observation capabilities instead of the comet.
research results
At the time of its discovery, the comet was around 600 million kilometers from Earth, which is probably the greatest discovery distance to date. It reached Earth's orbit on November 19, 1973 and flew around the Sun at a distance of only 21 million kilometers, half as far as the closest planet Mercury . However, its orbit is not in the same plane as the orbit of the earth. The comet only crossed this plain on December 27th. The two-dimensional representation of the earth's orbit and comet's orbit gives only an approximate idea. Close to the Sun, the comet reached its greatest speed of 112 kilometers per second. The distance between the comet and the earth was roughly the same as that between the sun and the earth, namely 150 million kilometers. Because of this distance, the actual brightness development for observers on Earth was well below the predictions. On February 1, 1974, the comet crossed Earth's orbit again on its way from the sun and in mid-1974 it left the inner solar system.
Kohoutek was the first comet observed by space station crews: Skylab 4 and Soyuz 13 . Based on calculations of its orbit, it is assumed that it will not cross the inner solar system again for 75,000 years. In an interview in 1973, its discoverer estimated this time to be 80,000 years.
Many astronomers originally suspected that the comet belongs to the Oort cloud . However, his observation did not confirm this and rather suggests that C / 1973 E1 (Kohoutek) is a Kuiper belt object.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ DJ Batzer: Mystery of Kohoutek .
swell
- Information about the comet Article about the comet Kohoutek in the US magazine Time .
- Special issue Der Komet , Orbis Verlag, Hamburg 1973
- The Kohoutek comet of the century. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Munich 1973