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56P/Slaughter–Burnham

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Not to be confused with C/1958 R1 (Burnham–Slaughter). For other comets discovered by Robert Burnham Jr., see Comet Burnham.
56P/Slaughter–Burnham
Discovery
Discovered byCharles D. Slaughter
Robert Burnham Jr.
Discovery date27 January 1959
Designations
P/1959 B1
P/1969 V1
  • 1958 VI, 1970 V
  • 1981 XVIII, 1993 X
Orbital characteristics[1][2]
Epoch21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5)
Observation arc58.99 years[a]
Number of
observations		2,141
Aphelion7.636 AU
Perihelion2.489 AU
Semi-major axis5.063 AU
Eccentricity0.50822
Orbital period11.392 years
Inclination8.155°
345.87°
Argument of
periapsis		44.235°
Mean anomaly294.36°
Last perihelion18 July 2016[3]
Next perihelion19 December 2027[4]
TJupiter2.710
Earth MOID1.518 AU
Jupiter MOID0.022 AU
Physical characteristics[1]
Mean radius
3.0 km (1.9 mi)[5]
Mean density
640±100 kg/m3[6]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		9.3
Comet nuclear
magnitude (M2)		13.4

56P/Slaughter–Burnham is a Jupiter-family comet with an 11.54-year orbit around the Sun.[7] It is the second of two comets co-discovered by Robert Burnham Jr. and Charles D. Slaughter.

Observational history

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It was discovered in 1959 by Charles D. Slaughter and Robert Burnham of the Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona during a photographic survey. They spotted the comet, with a faint brightness of magnitude 16, on a plate exposed on 10 December 1958. By monitoring its movement over a series of consecutive days, Elizabeth Roemer was able to calculate its orbit, suggesting a perihelion date of 4 August 1958 and an orbital period of 11.18 years.

It was subsequently observed in 1970, 1981, 1993, 2005 and 2016. Its next perihelion will be on 19 December 2027.[2]

Physical characteristics

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The nucleus of the comet has a radius of 1.55 km (0.96 mi) based on observations by the Keck Observatory.[8] Follow-up observations from the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope revealed a much larger nucleus at 3.0 km (1.9 mi) in radius.[5]

Notes

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  1. ↑ Observation arc from the Minor Planet Center database only covered dates from 2 February 1959 until 23 January 2018 (58.97 years). This figure includes its entire arc up to 27 January 1959.

References

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  1. 1 2 "56P/Slaughter–Burnham – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 "56P/Slaughter–Burnham Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  3. ↑ S. Nakano (27 October 2005). "NK 1272: 56P/Slaughter–Burnham". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  4. ↑ "Horizons Batch for 56P/Slaughter–Burnham (90000628) on 2027-Dec-19" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 28 September 2025. (JPL#K162/5 Soln.date: 2023-Oct-16)
  5. 1 2 C. S. Snodgrass; S. C. Lowry; A. Fitzsimmons (2007). "Optical observations of 23 distant Jupiter Family Comets, including 36P/Whipple at multiple phase angles" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 385 (2): 737–756. arXiv:0712.4204. Bibcode:2008MNRAS.385..737S. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.12900.x. S2CID 55536237.
  6. ↑ M. L. Paradowski (2022). "A New Indirect Method of Determining Density of Cometary Nuclei" (PDF). Acta Astronomica. 72 (2): 141–159. Bibcode:2022AcA....72..141P. doi:10.32023/0001-5237/72.2.4. ISSN 0001-5237.
  7. ↑ G. W. Kronk. "56P/Slaughter–Burnham". Cometography.com. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  8. ↑ K. J. Meech; O. R. Hainaut; B. G. Marsden (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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