C/1963 F1 (Alcock)
 Comet Alcock photographed from the US Naval Observatory on 21 March 1963.[1] | |
| Discovery[2] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | George Alcock |
| Discovery site | Peterborough, England |
| Discovery date | 19 March 1963 |
| Designations | |
| 1963b[3] 1963 III | |
| Orbital characteristics[4][5] | |
| Epoch | 15 May 1963 (JD 2438164.5) |
| Observation arc | 118 days |
| Number of observations | 101 |
| Aphelion | 1,476 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.537 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 738.8 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99738 |
| Orbital period | ~14,200 years |
| Inclination | 86.219° |
| 43.465° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 146.62° |
| Last perihelion | 5 May 1963 |
| TJupiter | 0.108 |
| Earth MOID | 0.632 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 2.855 AU |
| Physical characteristics[6] | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 6.6 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 13.9 |
| 4.4 (1963 apparition) | |
Comet Alcock, formally designated as C/1963 F1 is a non-periodic comet that became barely visible to the naked eye in May 1963.[7] It is the third of five comets discovered by English astronomer, George Alcock.
Discovery and observations
[edit]George Alcock found a new comet using his 25 × 105 binoculars on the morning of 19 March 1963. It was a diffuse 8th-magnitude object with a short tail about 2° northwest of the star δ Cyg at the time of discovery.[a][8] The comet was further observed in the following days, including a photographic session done from the Flagstaff Observatory.[1] By the end of April it had steadily brightened up to 7.5 in apparent magnitude.[7]
It had reached perihelion on 5 May, and made its closest approach to Earth about four days later.[7] Initially, its brightness remained slightly lower than predicted by its ephemerides, until it produced an outburst that significantly raising its peak magnitude from 5.8 to 4.4 on 30 May.[9] The nucleus was then observed to split into two, later five pieces on 23 June following several subsequent outbursts that started about a week earlier.[10] By 19 July, John C. Bennett reported that the comet faded back as a 9th-magnitude object, noting its coma being slightly elongated.[11] It was last observed on August 1963.[12]
References
[edit]Notes
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b E. Roemer (March 1963). "Comet Notes". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 75 (444): 292–294. doi:10.1086/127953. JSTOR 40674003.
- ^ K. A. Thernöe (4 May 1963). "Comet Alcock (1963b)". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 1823. Bibcode:1963IAUC.1823....1C.
- ^ "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "C/1963 F1 (Alcock) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Z. Sekanina (1965). "Orbit of the Alcock comet (1963b)". Bulletin of the Astronomical Institute of Czechoslovakia. 16 (1): 12–15. Bibcode:1965BAICz..16...12S. doi:10.1038/198138b0.
- ^ I. R. Ferrin (1969). "Brightness Variations of the Comet Alcock 1963 b and its Correlation with Solar Phenomena". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 79: 130–133. Bibcode:1969JBAA...79..130F.
- ^ a b c d G. W. Kronk (2009). Cometography: A Catalog of Comets. Vol. 5: 1960–1982. Cambridge University Press. pp. 88–94. ISBN 978-0-521-87226-3.
- ^ "New Comet Alcock (1963b)" (PDF). Nature. 198: 138. 1963. doi:10.1038/198138b0.
- ^ G. Chincarini (1970). "Observations of comet Alcock (1963b)". Memorie della Società Astronomia Italiana. 41: 9–20. Bibcode:1970MmSAI..41....9C.
- ^ E. Roemer (June 1963). "Comet Notes". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 75 (445): 378–382. doi:10.1086/127974.
- ^ J. C. Bennett; L. L. van Zyl; S. C. Venter (1964). "Observations of Comets in 1962 and 1963". Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa. 23: 45–55. Bibcode:1964MNSSA..23...45B.
- ^ E. Roemer (August 1963). "Comet Notes". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 75 (446): 462–464. doi:10.1086/128008.
External links
[edit]- C/1963 F1 at the JPL Small-Body Database
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