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Comet 126P/IRAS - (= 1983 M1 = 1996 P1 )

Photometric data obtained by use of FOCAS-II software

                                    10x10  20x20  30x30  40x40  50x50  60x60   SNR   SB   COD

COMET         UTC                    +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-     N  FWHM  CAT

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126P          09/10/2023 20:17:13  15.96  15.24  14.88  14.63  14.44  14.29  12.3  17.2  B96

126P          09/10/2023 20:17:13*  0.04   0.08   0.03   0.02   0.04   0.05     2   2.9  Gai

126P          17/11/2023 20:56:18  16.23  14.99                               1.4  16.3  B96

126P          17/11/2023 20:56:18*  0.28   0.23                                 2   3.5  Gai

                                                                     AFRHO         LOG

COMET         UTC                   DELTA    r    BOX "   MAG   RSR    CM    +/-  AFRHO  OBS

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126P          09/10/2023 20:17:13    1.32   2.00  20.84  15.24   12     54     4  1.731  B96

126P on Gary W. Kronk’s cometography

Discovery:    IAUC  3833

This comet was discovered on three images obtained by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite on 1983 June 28.76, 28.83, and 28.90. J. Davies announced the discovery and measured the comet's position. A confirmation was immediately obtained by J. Gibson (Palomar Observatory, California, USA) on June 30.48. His photograph with the 1.2-m Schmidt telescope indicated a total magnitude of 15. The comet itself appeared as an essentially stellar object, with no condensation or tail. After exposing additional photographs on July 1-3, Gibson remarked that the comet was "not obviously cometary."  The comet's short-period nature was first announced on 1983 July 26, when Brian G. Marsden (Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams) released details of an orbit computed from positions obtained from 1983 June 30 to July 21. The preliminary orbit indicated an orbital period of 13.32 years.

Recovery:

Using 95 observations obtained from 1983 June 30 to 1984 Feb. 22, K. Muraoka predicted the comet would next return to perihelion on 1996 Oct. 31.65. The orbital period was given as 13.30 years. The comet was recovered on 1996 August 8.71, when Q. A. Parker (Siding Spring, Australia) photographed it with the U. K. Schmidt telescope. The magnitude was then estimated as 13 and the position indicated the predicted perihelion date needed corrected by -1.65 days. The comet passed closest to Earth on September 21 (0.9715 AU), but continued to brighten as it approached perihelion. The maximum magnitude just slightly exceeded 12 during late October, and the comet faded only slightly during the first half of November. It was last detected on 1997 March 1.81 by astronomers at the Astronomical and Geophysical Observatory, Modra (Slovakia).