85P/Boethin

85P/Boethin

Discovery
Discovered by	Leo Boethin
Discovery date	January 4, 1975
Alternative designations	85P/1975 A1; 1975 I; 1975a; 85P/1985 T2; 1986 I; 1985n
Orbital characteristics ^A
Epoch	January 10, 1986 (JD 2446440.5)
Aphelion	20.7560 AU
Perihelion	1.1143 AU
Semi-major axis	11.67560 AU
Eccentricity	0.7777
Orbital period	11.225 a
Inclination	5.756°
Last perihelion	December 16, 2008[1] (unobserved)
Next perihelion	2020 (lost?)

Comet Boethin (officially 85P/Boethin) is a periodic comet discovered in 1975 by Leo Boethin. It appeared again in 1986 January as expected. Although the comet was next expected at perihelion on 1997 April, no observations were reported.

It was to be a target of NASA's EPOXI comet-exploration mission in December 2008; however, the comet was not recovered in time to set up the trajectory for the flyby with sufficient accuracy. It is thought that the comet may have broken into pieces too small for visual detection.^[2]

References

1. Syuichi Nakano (2005-07-26). "85P/Boethin (NK 1210)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
2. NASA and the Case of the Missing Comet

External links

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Horizons Ephemeris
• 85P/Boethin – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net
• 85P past, present and future orbital elements
• Destination: Missing--Comet Once Targeted by NASA Mission Vanished (Scientific American – October 23, 2012)
• "Deep Impact Flyby Spacecraft Ready For New Mission" (from space.com, July 14, 2005)
• 85P/Boethin history (from cometography.com)