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15P/FINLAY (1886 S1 = 1893 K1)

 Comet 15P/FINLAY - Gary Kronk’s Cometography

Photometric data obtained by use of FOCAS-II software

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

OBJECT        DATE       TIME        +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-     N  FWHM  CAT

------------  ---------- --------  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  ----  ----  ---

15P           22/01/2015 00:18:25  13.41  12.33  11.80  11.41  11.13  10.92   4.6  15.8  G39

15P           22/01/2015 00:18:25*  0.06   0.10   0.11   0.12   0.13   0.14    10   4.3  USN

15P           23/01/2015 00:19:43  14.04  13.19  12.71  12.38  12.13  11.91   4.9  16.7  G39

15P           23/01/2015 00:19:43*  0.06   0.11   0.13   0.13   0.14   0.13     2   4.7  USN

15P           25/01/2015 00:20:59  13.59  12.61  12.08  11.68  11.39  11.18   5.7  16.2  G39

15P           25/01/2015 00:20:59*  0.03   0.05   0.06   0.06   0.05   0.04     8   4.2  USN

15P           06/02/2015 18:11:17  14.95  13.93  13.40  13.02  12.74  12.53  14.3  17.2  B96

15P           06/02/2015 18:11:17*  0.02   0.04   0.03   0.03   0.03   0.03    13   3.8  USN

15P           15/02/2015 18:30:23  15.08  14.08  13.50  13.11  12.83  12.61   9.1  16.7  B96

15P           15/02/2015 18:30:23*  0.03   0.03   0.03   0.02   0.02   0.02    13   3.8  CMC

15P           17/02/2015 18:36:19  15.18  14.21  13.64  13.26  12.98  12.78   9.3  16.9  B96

15P           17/02/2015 18:36:19*  0.02   0.03   0.03   0.04   0.03   0.03    12   4.0  CMC

15P           25/05/2021 10:03:21  16.53  15.77  15.35  15.04  14.79  14.62   6.2  18.8  X02

15P           25/05/2021 10:03:21*  0.04   0.07   0.09   0.10   0.12   0.13     5   3.4  Gai

                                                                     AFRHO         LOG

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

------------  -------------------   -----  -----  -----  -----  ---  -----  ----  -----  ---

15P           22/01/2015 00:18:25    1.40   1.05  19.70  12.41    5    224    49  2.349  G39

15P           23/01/2015 00:19:43    1.40   1.05  19.67  13.22    5    107    22  2.031  G39

15P           06/02/2015 18:11:17    1.46   1.15  18.84  14.05   14     65     5  1.812  B96

15P           25/01/2015 00:20:59    1.41   1.06  19.60  12.66    6    186    33  2.269  G39

15P           15/02/2015 18:30:23    1.53   1.22  18.03  14.24    9     67     7  1.828  B96

15P           17/02/2015 18:36:19    1.55   1.23  17.83  14.37    9     62     7  1.794  B96

15P           25/05/2021 10:03:21    1.16   1.21  23.79  15.60    6     11     2  1.041  X02

Comet 1886 S1 (Finlay) was discovered on 26.83 sept. 1886 by W.H.Finlay of the Royal Observatory, Cape Good Hope in South Africa with a 18-cm refractor. He described it as round 1’ across and “very slightly more condensed towards the centre”.  He added that the comet was faint with magnitude about 11 but no tail visible.  The next apparition and recovered by Finlay as well in 1893, revealed a magnitude of about 11 while the comet appeared faint and diffused. It reached a magnitude of 6 on its 1906 return and appeared bright during the last few days of August and September. However, subsequent apparitions were very faint and were unfavourable till 1953.

On its discovery, the orbital period of comet 15P/Finlay was noted at 4.32 years. During June 1910, comet Finlay passed about 0.45 AU from Jupiter, which changed its orbital period from 6.54 to 6.69 years.

Encounters of comet 15P/Finlay include the following:

Close encounter with Jupiter in June, 1910, which increased the perihelion distance and changed the orbital period.

Close encounter with Jupiter in September, 1993, which decreased the perihelion distance from 1.09 AU to 1.04 AU

Close encounter with Jupiter in May, 2004, which decreased the perihelion distance from 1.03 AU to 0.97 AU.