19P/Borrelly

Comet Borrelly /bɒˈrɛli/ or Borrelly's Comet (official designation: 19P/Borrelly) is a periodic comet, which was visited by the spacecraft Deep Space 1 in 2001. The comet last came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on March 29th, 2022 and will next come to perihelion on January 22nd, 2029[3][2]

19P/Borrelly
Discovery
Discovered byAlphonse Borrelly
Discovery dateDecember 28, 1904
Designations
1905 II; 1911 VIII; 1918 IV;
1925 VIII; 1932 IV; 1953 IV;
1960 V; 1967 VIII; 1974 VII;
1981 IV; 1987 XXXIII; 1994 XXX
Orbital characteristics
Epoch March 26, 2017 (JD 2457838.5)
Aphelion5.86 AU [1]
Perihelion1.347 AU
(January 22, 2029)[2][3]
3.59 AU
Eccentricity0.624
6.8 a
Inclination30.3°
January 22, 2029[2][3]
Earth MOID0.37 AU (55 million km)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions8×4×4 km[4]
Mean radius
2.4 km[5]
Mass2×1013 kg[6]
Mean density
0.3 g/cm3[7]
AlbedoAlbedo: 0.03[8]

    Deep Space 1 returned images of the comet's nucleus from 3400 kilometers away. At 45 meters per pixel, it was the highest resolution view ever seen of a comet.[9]

    Discovery

    The comet was discovered by Alphonse Borrelly during a routine search for comets at Marseilles, France on December 28, 1904.

    Deep Space 1 flyby
    Animation of Deep Space 1's trajectory from 24 October 1998 to 31 December 2003
       Deep Space 1 ·   9969 Braille ·   Earth ·   19P/Borrelly

    On September 21, 2001 the spacecraft Deep Space 1, which was launched to test new equipment in space, performed a flyby of Borrelly. It was steered toward the comet during the extended mission of the craft, and presented an unexpected bonus for the mission scientists. Despite the failure of a system that helped determine its orientation, Deep Space 1 managed to send back to Earth what were, at the time, the best images and other science data from a comet.

    The orbits of three periodic comets, 1P/Halley, 19P/Borrelly and 153P/Ikeya-Zhang, set against the orbits of the outer planets.

    References
    1. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=19P
    2. MPC
    3. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (2017-04-26). "19P/Borrelly". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
    4. Weaver, H. A.; Stern, S.A.; Parker, J. Wm. (2003). "Hubble Space Telescope STIS Observations of Comet 19P/BORRELLY during the Deep Space 1 Encounter". The Astronomical Journal. The American Astronomical Society. 126 (1): 444–451. Bibcode:2003AJ....126..444W. doi:10.1086/375752. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
    5. "19P/Borrelly: Facts & Figures". Archived from the original on 2014-08-09. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
    6. Using the volume of an ellipsoid of 8x4x4km * a rubble pile density of 0.3 g/cm3 yields a mass (m=d*v) of 2.0E+13 kg.
    7. D. T. Britt; G. J. Consol-magno SJ; W. J. Merline (2006). "Small Body Density and Porosity: New Data, New Insights" (PDF). Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVII. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
    8. Robert Roy Britt (2001-11-29). "Comet Borrelly Puzzle: Darkest Object in the Solar System". Space.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
    9. Beatty, Kelly (25 June 2004). "Meet Comet Borrelly". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
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