| 7P/Pons–Winnecke | |
| Discoverer: | Jean Louis Pons &<br />Friedrich Winnecke |
| Discovery Date: | June 12, 1819 &<br />March 9, 1858 |
| Designations: | 1858 E1, 1858 II, 1819 III, 1927c, 1933b, 1939c, 1945a, 1951c, 1964b, 1970b, 1976f, 1983b, 1989g |
| Epoch: | 2023-02-25 |
| Semimajor: | 3.41 AU |
| Perihelion: | 1.233 AU |
| Aphelion: | 5.59 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.6385 |
| Period: | 6.30 yrs |
| Inclination: | 22.373° |
| Earth Moid: | 0.24AU |
| Last P: | May 27, 2021 January 30, 2015 September 26, 2008 |
| Next P: | 2027-Aug-25 |
| Dimensions: | 5.2 km |
| Perihelion distance at different epochs | |||||||
| Perihelion (AU) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1819 | 0.77 | ||||||
| 1875 | 0.83 | ||||||
| 1886 | 0.89 | ||||||
| 1898 | 0.92 | ||||||
| 1909 | 0.97 | ||||||
| 1921 | 1.04 | ||||||
| 1933 | 1.10 | ||||||
| 1989 | 1.26 | ||||||
| 2027 | 1.13 | ||||||
| 2039 | 0.982 | ||||||
| 2062 | 0.847 | ||||||
7P/Pons–Winnecke (also known as Comet Pons–Winnecke) is a periodic Jupiter-family comet with a six-year orbit. Early calculations for the 1921 apparition suggested that the orbit of the comet might collide with Earth in June, but observations on 10 April ruled out an impact.[1] It made a very close approach to Earth in June 1927.[2] The outward migration of perihelion created impressive meteor showers in 1916, 1921 and 1927.
The next perihelion passage is 25 August 2027 when the comet will have a solar elongation of 63 degrees. The last perihelion passage was 27 May 2021 when the comet had a solar elongation of 107 degrees at approximately apparent magnitude 11. It passed 0.44abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit from Earth on 12 June 2021. Before that it came to perihelion on 30 January 2015 with a solar elongation of 24 degrees.
Jean Louis Pons (Marseille) originally discovered the comet on 12 June 1819, it was later rediscovered by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke (Bonn) on 9 March 1858. It is the parent body of the June Bootids of late June.
7P has an orbital period of 6.3 years. It currently has a perihelion of 1.2 AU (outside the orbit of Earth) and an aphelion of 5.6 AU (past the orbit of Jupiter). It passed within 0.04abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit of Earth in June 1927, and 0.1abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit in 1939; but it will not come as close in the 21st century. A close approach to Jupiter in July 2037 will drop perihelion to 0.982 AU, and by 2062 perihelion will be further reduced to 0.85 AU.
| 2062-Jun-12 18:25 ± 10 min | 0.1676abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit | 0.8499AU | 16.3 | 42.5 | ± 312 km | Horizons |
The comet nucleus is estimated at 5.2 km in diameter.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposed a flyby of the comet with a flight spare of Mariner 4 with the closest approach taking place in 1969. The probe was instead used for a Venus flyby as Mariner 5.[3]