14P/Wolf

14P/Wolf is a periodic comet with an 8.78-year orbit around the Sun. It is the first of three comets discovered by German astronomer, Max Wolf.

Observational history

Max Wolf discovered the comet from Heidelberg, Germany on 17 September 1884, about 15 days before it passed from Earth. It was later rediscovered by, but not credited to, Ralph Copeland on September 23.

Orbit

Before approaching Jupiter in 1875, the comet had a perihelion of and an orbital period of 8.84 years, and the approach dropped perihelion to. An approach to Jupiter in September 1922 lifted perihelion to. The current perihelion of 2.7 AU is from when the comet passed Jupiter on 13 August 2005. Another close approach to Jupiter on 10 March 2041 will return the comet to parameters similar to the period 1925–2000.

Physical characteristics

In 2005, the comet's nucleus is estimated to have an effective radius of kilometers. Follow-up observations in 2017 revealed that 14P/Wolf rotates around its axis once every hours.