Communiqué de presse
First ESO Image of Comet 1996 J1 (Evans-Drinkwater)
20 mai 1996
The active phase of Astronomy On-Line will start on October 1 and reach a climax on November 18 - 22, 1996. A new and unknown comet was discovered by Robert Evans on a photographic plate, obtained by M. J. Drinkwater on May 10, 1996, with the UK Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring Australia. More observations were made within the next days and the comet was soon given the designation 'Comet 1996 J1' (i.e. the first comet to be found in the period May 1 - 15, 1996). Following astronomical tradition, it was also named after the discoverers.
At the time of the discovery, the magnitude was estimated as about 16 (10,000 times fainter than what can be peceived with the unaided eye) and a first calculation of the orbit by Brian Marsden (IAU Minor Planet and Comet Bureau) indicates that the brightness will not change much during the coming months.
Soon after the announcement of the discovery (IAU Circular 6397; May 12), a CCD image of the new comet was obtained on May 13.15 UT with the MPI/ESO 2.2-metre telescope and the multi-mode EFOSC II instrument at La Silla. The exposure time was 5 min through a red (R) filtre.
Another series of images was obtained on May 14.1 UT. Two of these have been combined and are reproduced here as ESO Press Photo eso9626; it is available in two versions. The field of the B/W-frame measures 128 x 123 arcsec and that of the false-colour, 190 x 183 arcsec; 1 pixel = 0.336 arcsec. North is up and East is to the left.
At the time of the exposure, the comet was about 405 million km from the Earth and 492 million km from the Sun. The visible coma mostly consists of dust, emitted by the cometary nucleus, and it measures more than 2 arcminutes across (IAUC 6398; May 13).
A spectrum was obtained with the same telescope on May 14.15 UT. It shows weak lines of CN and C2, not unusual for a comet at the current heliocentric distance (IAUC 6400; May 17).
A new orbital computation by Brian Marsden (MPEC 1996-K02; May 17) now indicates that Comet Evans-Drinkwater will pass its perihelion on December 30, 1996, at a distance of 1.297 AU (194 million km) from the Sun. The orbit is near-parabolic. The comet will be observable during most of the current year, and best from the southern hemisphere.
Further information about IAU Circulars (IAUC) and Minor Planet Electronic Circulars (MPEC) may be obtained from the Headlines of the IAU Central Bureau for Telegrams.
A propos du communiqué de presse
| Communiqué de presse N°: | eso9626 |
| Legacy ID: | Photo 28/96 |
| Nom: | Comet 1996 J1 |
| Type: | Solar System Solar System : Interplanetary Body : Comet : Coma |
| Facility: | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope |
| Instruments: | EFOSC2 |
Images
Our use of Cookies
We use cookies that are essential for accessing our websites and using our services. We also use cookies to analyse, measure and improve our websites’ performance, to enable content sharing via social media and to display media content hosted on third-party platforms.
ESO Cookies Policy
The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy. It carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities for astronomy.
This Cookies Policy is intended to provide clarity by outlining the cookies used on the ESO public websites, their functions, the options you have for controlling them, and the ways you can contact us for additional details.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of data stored on your device by websites you visit. They serve various purposes, such as remembering login credentials and preferences and enhance your browsing experience.
Categories of cookies we use
Essential cookies (always active): These cookies are strictly necessary for the proper functioning of our website. Without these cookies, the website cannot operate correctly, and certain services, such as logging in or accessing secure areas, may not be available; because they are essential for the website’s operation, they cannot be disabled.
Functional Cookies: These cookies enhance your browsing experience by enabling additional features and personalization, such as remembering your preferences and settings. While not strictly necessary for the website to function, they improve usability and convenience; these cookies are only placed if you provide your consent.
Analytics cookies: These cookies collect information about how visitors interact with our website, such as which pages are visited most often and how users navigate the site. This data helps us improve website performance, optimize content, and enhance the user experience; these cookies are only placed if you provide your consent. We use the following analytics cookies.
Matomo Cookies:
This website uses Matomo (formerly Piwik), an open source software which enables the statistical analysis of website visits. Matomo uses cookies (text files) which are saved on your computer and which allow us to analyze how you use our website. The website user information generated by the cookies will only be saved on the servers of our IT Department. We use this information to analyze www.eso.org visits and to prepare reports on website activities. These data will not be disclosed to third parties.
On behalf of ESO, Matomo will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.
Matomo cookies settings:
Additional Third-party cookies on ESO websites: some of our pages display content from external providers, e.g. YouTube.
Such third-party services are outside of ESO control and may, at any time, change their terms of service, use of cookies, etc.
YouTube: Some videos on the ESO website are embedded from ESO’s official YouTube channel. We have enabled YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode, meaning that no cookies are set unless the user actively clicks on the video to play it. Additionally, in this mode, YouTube does not store any personally identifiable cookie data for embedded video playbacks. For more details, please refer to YouTube’s embedding videos information page.
Cookies can also be classified based on the following elements.
Regarding the domain, there are:
- First-party cookies, set by the website you are currently visiting. They are stored by the same domain that you are browsing and are used to enhance your experience on that site;
- Third-party cookies, set by a domain other than the one you are currently visiting.
As for their duration, cookies can be:
- Browser-session cookies, which are deleted when the user closes the browser;
- Stored cookies, which stay on the user's device for a predetermined period of time.
How to manage cookies
Cookie settings: You can modify your cookie choices for the ESO webpages at any time by clicking on the link Cookie settings at the bottom of any page.
In your browser: If you wish to delete cookies or instruct your browser to delete or block cookies by default, please visit the help pages of your browser:
Please be aware that if you delete or decline cookies, certain functionalities of our website may be not be available and your browsing experience may be affected.
You can set most browsers to prevent any cookies being placed on your device, but you may then have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site/page. And some services and functionalities may not work properly at all (e.g. profile logging-in, shop check out).
Updates to the ESO Cookies Policy
The ESO Cookies Policy may be subject to future updates, which will be made available on this page.
Additional information
For any queries related to cookies, please contact: pdprATesoDOTorg.
As ESO public webpages are managed by our Department of Communication, your questions will be dealt with the support of the said Department.