Comet 4P/Faye (also known as Faye's Comet or Comet Faye) is a
periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered in November 1843 by
Hervé Faye at the
Royal Observatory in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Its most recent
perihelia (closest approaches to the Sun) were on November 15, 2006; May 29, 2014;
and September 8, 2021.
[
]
Observational history
The comet was first observed by Faye on November 23, but bad weather prevented its confirmation until the 25th.[ It was so faint that it had already passed ]perihelion
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values.
Apsides perta ...
about a month before its discovery, and only a close pass by the Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
had made it bright enough for discovery. Otto Wilhelm von Struve
Otto Wilhelm von Struve (May 7, 1819 (Julian calendar: April 25) – April 14, 1905) was a Russian astronomer of Baltic German origins. In Russian, his name is normally given as Otto Vasil'evich Struve (Отто Васильевич Струве). ...
reported that the comet was visible to the naked eye at the end of November.[ It remained visible for smaller telescopes until January 10, 1844, and was finally lost to larger telescopes on April 10, 1844.][
In 1844, ]Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander
Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander (22 March 1799 – 17 February 1875) was a German astronomer. He is known for his determinations of stellar brightnesses, positions, and distances.
Life and work
Argelander was born in Memel in the Kingd ...
and Thomas James Henderson independently computed that the comet was a short-period comet; by May, its period had been calculated to be 7.43 years.[ ]Urbain Le Verrier
Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier (; 11 March 1811 – 23 September 1877) was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptune using only mathematics. ...
computed the positions for the 1851 apparition, predicting perihelion in April 1851.[ The comet was found close to his predicted position on November 29, 1850, by ]James Challis
James Challis FRS (12 December 1803 – 3 December 1882) was an English clergyman, physicist and astronomer. Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy and the director of the Cambridge Observatory, he investigated a wide rang ...
.[
The comet was missed during its apparitions in 1903 and 1918 due to unfavorable observing circumstances.][ It reached a brightness of about 9th ]magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object
*Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector
*Order of ...
in 2006.comet nucleus
The nucleus is the solid, central part of a comet, formerly termed a ''dirty snowball'' or an ''icy dirtball''. A cometary nucleus is composed of rock, dust, and frozen gases. When heated by the Sun, the gases sublime and produce an atmosphe ...
is estimated to be about 3.5 km in diameter.
References
External links
*
4P/Faye at CometBase database
– Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net
4P/Faye
at the Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Funct ...
's Database
Periodic comets
0004
004P
004P
18431123
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