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C/1891 F1 (Barnard–Denning)

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For other comets discovered by Edward E. Barnard and William F. Denning, see Comet Barnard and Comet Denning.
C/1891 F1 (Barnard–Denning)
Comet Barnard–Denning as sketched by William F. Denning on 4 April 1891, alongside a passing meteor.
Discovery[1]
Discovered byEdward E. Barnard
William F. Denning
Discovery siteLick Observatory, California
Bristol, England
Discovery date30 March 1891
Designations
1891a[2]
1891 I
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch28 April 1891 (JD 2411850.5)
Observation arc101 days
Number of
observations		110
Perihelion0.398 AU
Eccentricity~1.000
Inclination120.512°
195.454°
Argument of
periapsis		178.750°
Last perihelion28 April 1891
Physical characteristics[4]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		8.8
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)		9.5
8.0
(1891 apparition)

Comet Barnard–Denning, also known as C/1891 F1 by its modern nomenclature, is a parabolic comet that was observed through telescopes between March and July 1891. It was discovered by American astronomer, Edward Emerson Barnard, and British astronomer, William Frederick Denning.

Discovery and observations

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Edward Emerson Barnard was in the Lick Observatory looking for new comets in the northwestern sky when he spotted this comet on the early morning of 30 March 1891, describing it as a "small, faint nebulous object" within the constellation Cetus.[a] William Frederick Denning independently discovered the comet approximately 17 hours after Barnard did.[1]

John M. Thome and his colleague, Richard H. Tucker were the last astronomers to have seen Comet Barnard–Denning,[5] where they observed the comet from the Cordoba Observatory on 9 July 1891 as a faint object within the constellation Vela.[b]

Orbit

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The first orbital calculations for C/1891 F1 were written by Adolf Berberich, using positions recorded between 31 March and 2 April 1891.[4] The comet reached perihelion on 28 April 1891.[3] Due to the very few follow-up observations conducted, its retrograde trajectory was not fully determined, however it is assumed to be parabolic.[6][7]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Reported initial position upon discovery was: α = 1h 00.1m , δ = 44° 48′[4]
  2. ^ Reported positions upon final observations were: α = 9h 52m , δ = –45° 34′[4]

Citations

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  1. ^ a b W. F. Denning (1891). "The Discovery of Comet a, 1891" (PDF). Nature. 43 (1120): 558. doi:10.1038/043558e0.
  2. ^ "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b "C/1891 F1 (Barnard–Denning) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d G. W. Kronk (2003). Cometography: A Catalog of Comets. Vol. 2: 1800–1899. Cambridge University Press. pp. 662–664. ISBN 978-0-521-58505-7.
  5. ^ J. M. Thome (1891). "Cordoba Observations of Comet 1891 I (Barnard–Denning)". Astronomische Nachrichten. 128 (10): 189–190. doi:10.1002/asna.18911281004.
  6. ^ W. Bellamy (1891). "Elements of comet 1891a". Astronomical Journal. 10 (240): 191. Bibcode:1891AJ.....10..191B. doi:10.1086/101544.
  7. ^ "The Comets of 1891". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 52 (4): 271–274. Bibcode:1892MNRAS..52..271.. doi:10.1093/mnras/52.4.271 (inactive 8 January 2025).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2025 (link)
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