53P/Van Biesbroeck

53P/Van Biesbroeck
Discovery
Discovered by	George Van Biesbroeck
Discovery date	September 1, 1954
Designations
Alternative designations	1954 IV; 1966 III; 1978 XXIV;; 1991 VI
Orbital characteristics
Epoch	March 6, 2006
Aphelion	8.375 AU
Perihelion	2.414 AU
Semi-major axis	5.394 AU
Eccentricity	0.5526
Orbital period	12.53 yr
Inclination	6.6094°
Last perihelion	April 29, 2016; October 9, 2003
Next perihelion	2028-Dec-24.7
Jupiter MOID	0.009 AU (1,300,000 km)

53P/Van Biesbroeck is a periodic comet 7 km in diameter.^[3] Its current orbital period is 12.53 years.

The comet was discovered by George Van Biesbroeck of Yerkes Observatory on 1 September 1954 while searching for the asteroid 1953 GC. The comet had an estimated apparent magnitude of 14.5 and appeared well condensed. The comet was then 1.85 AU from Earth and 2.86 AU from the Sun and had passed from its perigee, which took place on 17 August 1954. The comet was followed until 13 November 1955.^[4]

This comet and 42P/Neujmin are fragments of a parent comet that split around March 1845.^[5]^[6]^[7] The orbit of 53P/Van Biesbroeck has a Jupiter Minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of only 0.009 AU (1,300,000 km; 840,000 mi).^[3]^[8] The next perihelion passage is on Christmas Eve 24 December 2028.^[2] The comet is expected to brighten to about apparent magnitude 14.

The nucleus of the comet has a radius of 3.33–3.37 kilometers based on observations by Keck.^[9]

^ Cite error: The named reference Yoshida-53p was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference MPC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Kronk, Gary W. (2009). Cometography: a catalog of comets. Vol. 4, 1933-1959. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 458–460. ISBN 9780521585071.
^ Cite error: The named reference IAUC3940 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Comets II. Lunar and Planetary Institute, University of Arizona. p. 236, 237, 314.
^ Are Comets 42P/Neujmin 3 and 53P/Van Biesbroeck Parts of one Comet? Archived 2008-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
^ Cite error: The named reference jpl-jmoid was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Meech, K.J.; Hainaut, O.R.; Marsden, B.G. (August 2004). "Comet nucleus size distributions from HST and Keck telescopes". Icarus. 170 (2): 463–491. Bibcode:2004Icar..170..463M. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.03.014.

[Yoshida-53p-1] Cite error: The named reference Yoshida-53p was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[MPC-2] Cite error: The named reference MPC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[jpldata-3] Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] Kronk, Gary W. (2009). Cometography: a catalog of comets. Vol. 4, 1933-1959. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 458–460. ISBN 9780521585071.

[IAUC3940-5] Cite error: The named reference IAUC3940 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[6] Comets II. Lunar and Planetary Institute, University of Arizona. p. 236, 237, 314.

[7] Are Comets 42P/Neujmin 3 and 53P/Van Biesbroeck Parts of one Comet? Archived 2008-07-06 at the Wayback Machine

[jpl-jmoid-8] Cite error: The named reference jpl-jmoid was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[9] Meech, K.J.; Hainaut, O.R.; Marsden, B.G. (August 2004). "Comet nucleus size distributions from HST and Keck telescopes". Icarus. 170 (2): 463–491. Bibcode:2004Icar..170..463M. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.03.014.

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