153P/Ikeya–Zhang

< 153P
153P/Ikeya-Zhang
Comet Ikeya–Zhang photographed by Philipp Salzgeber on 1 April 2002
Discovery
Discovered byKaoru Ikeya
Zhang Daqing
Discovery date1 February 2002
Designations
C/2002 C1, C/1661 C1
Orbital characteristics
Epoch8 May 2002 (JD 2452402.5)
Observation arc403 days (1.10 years)
Earliest precovery date3 February 1661
Number of
observations
1,893
Aphelion101.73 AU
Perihelion0.507 AU
Semi-major axis51.119 AU
Eccentricity0.99008
Orbital period365.49 years
Max. orbital speed59 km/s
(2002-03-18)
Min. orbital speed0.29 km/s
(2182-Nov-24)
Inclination28.121°
93.369°
Argument of
periapsis
34.668°
Mean anomaly0.135°
Last perihelion18 March 2002
29 January 1661
Next perihelion1 September 2362
14 March 2363
TJupiter0.879
Earth MOID0.332 AU
Jupiter MOID0.011 AU
Physical characteristics
1.48±0.2 days
Comet total
magnitude
(M1)
4.0
2.9
(2002 apparition)

Comet Ikeya–Zhang (Japanese, Chinese: 池谷-張彗星, officially designated 153P/Ikeya–Zhang) is a comet discovered independently by two astronomers from Japan and China in 2002. It has by far the longest orbital period of the numbered periodic comets. It was last observed in October 2002 when it was about 3.3 AU (490 million km) from the Sun.