49P/Arend–Rigaux
< 49P
Comet Arend–Rigaux imaged by George van Biesbroeck from the Yerkes Observatory on 10 February 1951. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Sylvain Arend Fernand Rigaux |
| Discovery site | Royal Observatory of Belgium |
| Discovery date | 5 February 1951 |
| Designations | |
| P/1951 C2, P/1958 B1 | |
| |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 5 May 2025 (JD 2460800.5) |
| Observation arc | 74.31 years |
| Earliest precovery date | 8 January 1951 |
| Number of observations | 4,700 |
| Aphelion | 5.709 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.431 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.570 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.59906 |
| Orbital period | 6.745 years |
| Inclination | 19.059° |
| 118.79° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 332.93° |
| Mean anomaly | 3.564° |
| Last perihelion | 10 April 2025 |
| TJupiter | 2.711 |
| Earth MOID | 0.466 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.154 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 4.24 km (2.63 mi) |
| 13.452 hours | |
| 0.028 | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 13.9 |
49P/Arend–Rigaux is a periodic comet with a 6.75-year orbit around the Sun. It is the first of three comets discovered by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend and the only one for Fernand Rigaux.