79P/du Toit–Hartley

79P/du Toit–Hartley or du Toit 2 is a periodic comet, now divided into two parts, in the Solar System with an orbital period of 5.06 years.

79P/du Toit–Hartley
Discovery
Discovered byDaniel du Toit, Boyden Observatory, South Africa and Malcolm Hartley of the UK Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring, Australia
Discovery date9 April 1945
Alternative
designations		1987 IX, 1986q, 79P/1982 C1-A, 1982 II, 1982b, 79P/1945 G1, 1945 II, 1945c
Orbital characteristics A
Epoch9 December 2014
Aphelion4.83 AU
Perihelion1.1233 AU
Semi-major axis2.9460 AU
Eccentricity0.6187
Orbital period5.06 a
Inclination3.145°
Last perihelion13 Sep 2018[1]
23 Aug 2013
Next perihelion2023-Sep-30 (JPL Horizons last obs 2013-04-04)

It was originally discovered by Daniel du Toit at the Boyden Observatory, Bloemfontein, South Africa (then administered by Harvard College) on 9 April 1945 with a brightness of apparent magnitude 10.[2]

Uncertainties in the calculation of the orbit meant the comet was lost until rediscovered by Malcolm Hartley of the UK Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring, Australia in 1982, when it was found to have broken into two parts, probably in 1976. Both parts had a brightness of magnitude 17. Observed in 1987, it was missed in 1992 but rediscovered by astronomers at Los Molinos Observatory, Uruguay on 4 March 2003 at magnitude 17.

See also

References
  1. MPC
  2. "79P/du Toit-Hartley". Cometography. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
Numbered comets
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78P/Gehrels		 79P/du Toit–Hartley Next
80P/Peters–Hartley
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