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13P/Olbers

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13P/Olbers
Comet Olbers photographed by Don Heffernan on 11 August 2024
Discovery
Discovered byHeinrich Olbers
Discovery date6 March 1815
Designations
  • P/1815 E1, P/1887 Q1
  • P/1956 A1
  • 1815 I, 1887 V, 1956 IV
  • 1887f, 1956a
Orbital characteristics[1][2]
Epoch21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5)
Observation arc210.40 years
Number of
observations		2,619
Aphelion32.676 AU
Perihelion1.175 AU
Semi-major axis16.926 AU
Eccentricity0.93056
Orbital period69.634 years
Inclination44.664°
85.846°
Argument of
periapsis		64.425°
Mean anomaly7.203°
Last perihelion30 June 2024[3]
Next perihelion20 March 2094[4]
TJupiter1.251
Earth MOID0.471 AU
Jupiter MOID0.713 AU
Physical characteristics[1]
Mean radius
≤ 10 km (6.2 mi)[5]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		6.9
6.0
(2024 apparition)[6]

13P/Olbers is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 69 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with a period between 20 and 200 years.[1] The comet last passed perihelion 30 June 2024 and it was previously seen in 1956. The next perihelion is in 2094. It is the third of three comets discovered by German astronomer, Heinrich Olbers.[a]

Observational history

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Discovery

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Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers discovered the comet on 6 March 1815 and described it as small. The comet came to perihelion on 26 April 1815 and reached an apparent magnitude of about 5,[7] and was faintly visible by naked eye.[8] Its orbit was first computed by Carl Friedrich Gauss on March 31 as parabolic, and Friedrich Bessel calculated an orbital period of 73.9 years using observations from June. Calculations by other astronomers during that era resulted anywhere between 72 and 77 years.[7] Modern solutions give an orbital period of 74.9 years for the 1815 epoch.[2]

1887

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Orbital period
at different epochs[9]
EpochOrbital
period
(years)
188772.37
195669.54
202469.25
209470.72

There were unsuccessful searches for the comet throughout 1887, until it was accidentally found by William Robert Brooks on 25 August 1887.[7] He described as an easy object to see through a 9-inch reflector, with a brightish nucleus and a faint tail; it continued to brighten for a few days after passing perihelion.[10] The comet brightened to an apparent magnitude of about 9.[8] On 28 July 1887 the comet passed 0.081 AU (12.1 million km) from Mars and then passed perihelion on 8 October 1887.[9]

1956

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The comet was recovered on 4 January 1956 by Antonín Mrkos. The comet was then located in Eridanus and its apparent magnitude was estimated to be 16. He then found the comet in plates obtained by the McDonald Observatory on 12 November 1955.[8] The comet passed perihelion on 19 June 1956 and reached an apparent magnitude of 6.5, while its tail was about one degree long.[7]

2024

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Comet Olbers on 24 June 2024

The comet was recovered on 24 August 2023 by Alan Hale with the Las Cumbres Observatory at Siding Spring, and then additional pre-recovery images from August 13 were located. The comet then had an estimated apparent magnitude of about 22.[9][2] On 16 November 2023 the comet came to opposition 139 degrees from the Sun. On 14 January 2024 the comet had an estimated magnitude of 15.3, was reported to have a strongly condensed coma measuring 0.9 arcminutes across and a faint tail one arcminute. By 10 March 2024 the comet had brightened to a magnitude of 11.4 and the coma was 4 arcminutes across. The comet was observed visually on April 12 to have a magnitude of 9.2, being a magnitude brighter than the ephemeris.[11] It came to perihelion on 30 June 2024,[3] when it was 1.18 AU (177 million km) from the Sun and 1.94 AU (290 million km) from Earth.[3] It was expected to brighten to about apparent magnitude 7−8 but peaked at 6–7.[12]

Earth close approach
Date Distance (AU) Solar
elongation
2024-Jul-20[13]1.895 AU (283.5 million km)35°
2094-Jan-09[14]0.676 AU (101.1 million km)134°

2094

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Before the 2023 recovery, while the last observation was in 1956, Kinoshita calculated that the comet would come to a future perihelion passage (closest approach to the Sun) on 22 March 2094.[15] Accounting for observations in 2023–4, the nominal time of perihelion passage is now calculated to be 20 March 2094.[4]

Physical characteristics

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Chemical composition

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Measurements from the SWAN instrument aboard SOHO indicated that it reached its maximum water production rate of 1.1×1029 sec−1 on 3 June 2024,[16] and although irregular and scattered compared to 12P/Pons–Brooks, it did generally increased as it got closer to the Sun.[16] Infrared spectroscopy conducted at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) revealed abundances of H2O, OCS, C2H6, CH3OH, and H2CO, with significantly enriched amounts of CO and CH4 were reported.[5]

Nucleus size

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The unusual CO enrichment in 13P/Olbers implied that its nucleus has an upper limit of about 20–30 km (12–19 mi) in radius.[5] However, this assumes that there's a correlation between the nucleus size and the abundance ratio of CO/H2O within the comet itself,[17] whereas the more active periodic comets like 1P/Halley and 23P/Brorsen–Metcalf were substantially smaller.[18] With the water production rate of 13P is measured to be comparable to between the two aforementioned comets at 1.36 AU (203 million km) from the Sun,[16][18] the actual size of its nucleus is likely to be smaller, ranging from several to about 10 km (6.2 mi) in radius.[5]

Meteor showers

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There is some speculation that 13P/Olbers has an associated annual meteor shower on Mars coming from the direction of Beta Canis Majoris.[19] The minimum orbit intersection distance of the orbits of comet Olbers and Mars is 0.0266 AU (3.98 million km) and the meteors impact the planet with a velocity of 27 km/s. An intersection distance of less than 0.1 AU and an impact speed high enough for the meteors to become ablaze are considered good predictors for a potential meteor shower.[20]

Notes

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  1. ↑ Olbers had previously discovered C/1780 U1 (Montaigne–Olbers) and C/1796 F1 (Olbers)

References

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  1. 1 2 3 "13P/Olbers – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "13P/Olbers Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Horizons Batch for 13P/Olbers (90000226) on 2024-Jun-30" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2023. (JPL#11 Soln.date: 2023-Aug-28)
  4. 1 2 "Horizons Batch for 13P/Olbers (90000227) for March 2094" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 M. A. DiSanti; M. Saki; E. L. Gibb; et al. (2026). "Surprisingly Enriched CO and CH
    4     in Halley-type Comet 13P/Olbers: Clues to Its Interstellar Heritage"    . The Planetary Science Journal. 7 (7): 165–183. Bibcode:2026PSJ.....7..165D. doi:10.3847/PSJ/ae66fb.
  6. ↑ "Observation list for 13P/Olbers". COBS – Comet OBServation database. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 G. W. Kronk (2001–2005). "13P/Olbers". Cometography.com. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 E. Roemer (April 1956). "Comet Notes". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 68 (401): 171–172. Bibcode:1956PASP...68..171R. doi:10.1086/126910. ISSN 0004-6280. JSTOR 40673045.
  9. 1 2 3 A. Hale; S. Nakano; T. Kobayashi (28 August 2023). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet 13P/Olbers". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 5289: 1. Bibcode:2023CBET.5289....1H.
  10. ↑ W. R. Brooks (1888). "The Olbers–Brooks Comet". The Observatory. 11: 90–91. Bibcode:1888Obs....11...90B. ISSN 0029-7704.
  11. ↑ Hidetaka Sato; Hirohisa Sato; T. Ikemura; et al. (29 April 2024). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet 13P/Olbers". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 5389: 1. Bibcode:2024CBET.5389....1S.
  12. ↑ S. Yoshida (31 July 2004). "13P/Olbers". www.aerith.net. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  13. ↑ "Closest Approach to Earth around 20 July 2024" (Closest Earth approach occurs when deldot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "Closest Approach to Earth around 9 January 2094" (Closest Earth approach occurs when deldot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  15. ↑ K. Kinoshita (25 February 2003). "13P/Olbers past, present and future orbital elements". Comet Orbit. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 M. R. Combi; T. Mäkinen; J. L. Bertaux; et al. (2025). "Activity of Halley-type Comets 12P/Pons–Brooks and 13P/Olbers from SOHO/SWAN Observations". The Planetary Science Journal. 6 (12): 306–317. Bibcode:2025PSJ.....6..306C. doi:10.3847/PSJ/ae2475.
  17. ↑ J. E. Robinson; U. Malamud; C. Opitom; et al. (2024). "A link between the size and composition of comets" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 531 (1): 859–883. arXiv:2403.15644. Bibcode:2024MNRAS.531..859R. doi:10.1093/mnras/stae881.
  18. 1 2 M. A. DiSanti; U. Fink (1991). "Composition comparison between Comets P/Halley and P/Brorsen–Metcalf". Icarus. 91 (1): 105–111. Bibcode:1991Icar...91..105D. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(91)90130-L.
  19. ↑ "Meteor Showers And Their Parent Bodies". star.arm.ac.uk. Archived from the original (JPEG) on 3 October 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  20. ↑ A. A. Christou (2004). "Predicting Martian and Venusian Meteor Shower Activity" (PDF). Earth, Moon & Planets. 95 (1–4): 425–431. Bibcode:2004EM&P...95..425C. doi:10.1007/s11038-005-9023-0.
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