C/1968 H1 (Tago–Honda–Yamamoto)
< C
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Akihiko Tago Minoru Honda Hirofumi Yamamoto |
| Discovery site | Japan |
| Discovery date | 1 May 1968 |
| Designations | |
| 1968 IV, 1968a | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 17 May 1968 (JD 2439993.5) |
| Observation arc | 32 days |
| Earliest precovery date | 25 April 1968 |
| Number of observations | 35 |
| Aphelion | 358.941 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.6804 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 179.811 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.99622 |
| Orbital period | 2,411 years |
| Inclination | 102.170° |
| 233.108° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 50.447° |
| Last perihelion | 16 May 1968 |
| TJupiter | –0.186 |
| Earth MOID | 0.1635 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.5021 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 0.423 km (0.263 mi) |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 9.8 |
| 7.0 (1968 apparition) | |
Comet Tago–Honda–Yamamoto, formally designated C/1968 H1, is a retrograde non-periodic comet discovered by Akihiko Tago, Minoru Honda, and Hirofumi Yamamoto on 1 May 1968. Although officially named after the three Japanese astronomers, it was actually first spotted by Kōichi Itagaki about five days earlier on 25 April 1968, however he could not report his sighting for another couple of weeks.