71P/Clark (0071P)

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Type: Periodic Perihelion date: 22 Janurary 2023 Perihelion distance (q): 1.6 Aphelion distance (Q) : 4.7 Period (years): 5.6 Eccentricity (e): 0.49 Inclination (i): 9.4 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve Michael Clark (Mount John University Observatory, New Zealand) discovered this comet on 9 June 1973, near the edge of a photographic plate exposed for the southern variable star patrol. The comet was confirmed the next morning. The comet was described as diffuse, with a total magnitude of 13, and exhibited a tail one arc minute long. A prediscovery image was found by Clark on a photographic plate he had exposed on 1 June. The comet's orbital period has remained at 5.5 years since it was discovered, subsequently it is favorably placed for observation at every second return (i.e. 1973, 1984, 1995, 2006 and 2017). Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 03-Apr-17 15.55 0.07 12.6 0.6 21-Apr-17 14.81 0.01 13.1 0.9 01-May-17 14.12 0.04 11.7 0.9 19-May-17 13.48 0.02 11.0 1.9 28-May-17 13.07 0.01 10.9 1.9 22-Jun-17 12.89 0.01 9.5 3.8 28-Jun-17 13.11 0.01 9.8 5.9 13-Jul-17 13.42 0.01 10.3 3.0 20-Jul-17 13.14 0.04 9.9 2.3 10-Sep-17 14.63 0.05 11.9 1.0 19-Sep-17 15.05 0.03 11.8 0.7 10-Oct-17 15.54 0.01 12.2 1.0 17-Oct-17 15.64 0.02 12.1 1.1 20-Nov-17 16.45 0.03 13.4 1.0 02-Jan-18 17.27 0.04 14.0 0.6 30-Mar-22 19.5 0.4 25-Apr-22 19.7 0.4 03-May-22 20.5 0.4 17-May-22 19.4 0.4 22-May-22 19.3 0.4 16-Aug-23 18.2 0.4 07-Sep-23 18.4 0.4 18-Sep-23 18.6 0.4 06-Oct-23 18.6 0.4 17-Oct-23 18.9 0.4 13-Nov-23 19.7 0.4 09-Dec-23 19.9 0.4