126P/IRAS

Jupiter-family comet the other five comets of the same name Comet IRAS November 2025 126P/IRAS 126P 2023-07-27 image ZTF-sso-555-zr-size-11arcmin.png Comet 126P/IRAS photographed from the Zwicky Transient Facility on 27 July 2023 IAUC_3833 IAUC_3837 Infrared Astronomical Satellite 26 July 1983 P/1983 M1, P/1996 P1 1983 XIV, 1983j jpldata MPC 27 May 2021 (JD 2459361.5) 40.63 yearsobs_arc 30 June 1983 1,902 1.713 AU 9.573 AU 5.640 AU 0.69628 13.395 years 45.869° 357.86° 356.52° 303.38° 1.964 0.711 AU 2.771 AU jpldata 1.57 0.14 kmGroussin_2004 0.15 0.03Lisse_2004 580 90 kg/m3Paradowski_2022 11.8 14.9 5 July 2023 11 October 2036 126P/IRAS is a Jupiter-family comet with an orbital period of 13.4 years. It was discovered in images taken by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) on 28 July 1983 by J. Davies.IAUC_3833 The discovery was confirmed with images taken with the 1.2-m Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory.IAUC_3837 cometography Observational history Upon discovery the comet had an apparent magnitude of 15 and appeared stellar in appearance.IAUC_3833 The comet brightened and in mid September 1983 reached an apparent magnitude of 11 while a tail 3.5 arcminutes long was observed. Brian G. Marsden computed its orbit and found it is a short period comet with an orbital period of 13.32 years.cometography The comet was observed again during its next apparition in 1996,IAUC_6446 when it brightened up to magnitude of about 11 in September 1996 and faded to about 12 in October.IAUC_6483 IAUC_6497 The comet was observed during its 2010 and 2023 apparitions.Yoshida During the 1996 apparition, the comet was observed by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) when it was near perihelion.Lisse_2004 At the time, the comet had a 15 arcminute long tail in mid-infrared. The Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite also observed the comet in infrared.Kraemer_2005 Physical characteristics The surface was covered with dust grains smaller than 5 microns, a grain size similar to Halley's Comet. Estimates of the dust mass loss rate during its 1996 apparition was between 150–600 kg/s while the comet shed 3.3 times more dust mass than gas mass,Lisse_2004 however other studies showed the rate to be much lower at only 50 kg/s.Foster_2007 The albedo of the dust grain in the tail was estimated to be 0.15 0.03.Lisse_2004 The nucleus is estimated to have a radius of 1.57 ± 0.14 km mi based on infrared observations.Groussin_2004 Possible meteor shower It has been proposed that meteoroids expelled from the comet about 13,000 years ago could reach Earth, producing a diffuse meteor shower.Tomko_2012 Notes "obs_arc" Observation arc from the Minor Planet Center database covering dates from 30 June 1983 until 15 February 2024. References G. W. Kronk 126P/IRAS https://cometography.com/pcomets/126p.html Cometography.com 2023-07-20 M. J. Foster S. F. Green Three-dimensional cometary dust coma modelling in the collisionless regime: strengths and weaknesses https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-pdf/377/3/1064/5679441/mnras0377-1064.pdf Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2007 377 3 1064–1084 2007MNRAS.377.1064F 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11563.x free O. Groussin P. Lamy L. Jorda I. Toth The nuclei of comets 126P/IRAS and 103P/Hartley 2 https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2004/19/aa3941.pdf Astronomy & Astrophysics 2004 419 1 375–383 2004A&A...419..375G 10.1051/0004-6361:20040073 free J. Davies J. Gibson D. W. Green Possible Comet http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03800/03833.html IAU Circular 1983-07-01 3833 1 1983IAUC.3833....1D 0081-0304 J. Davies A. C. Gilmore P. M. Kilmartin B. G. Marsden Comet IRAS (1983j) http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03800/03837.html IAU Circular 1983-07-07 3837 1 1983IAUC.3837....1G 0081-0304 R. M. McNaught Q. A. Parker K. Muraoka etal D. W. Green Comet P/1996 P1 (IRAS) http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/06400/06446.html IAU Circular 1996-08-09 6446 1 1996IAUC.6446....1M 0081-0304 B. G. Marsden D. A. J. Seargent P. Camilleri J. Kobayashi A. Hale Comet 126P/IRAS http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/06400/06483.html IAU Circular 1996-10-02 6483 2 1996IAUC.6483....2M 0081-0304 R. Keen J. Carvajal K. Sarneczky D. A. J. Seargent J. Hu D. W. Green Comet 126P/IRAS http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/06400/06497.html IAU Circular 1996-10-24 6497 2 1996IAUC.6497....2K 0081-0304 126P/IRAS – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=126P ssd.jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion Laboratory 2023-07-20 K. E. Kraemer C. M. Lisse S. D. Price etal Midcourse Space Experiment Observations of Small Solar System Bodies The Astronomical Journal 2005 130 5 2363–2382 2005AJ....130.2363K 10.1086/444536 free C. M. Lisse Y. R. Fernández M. F. A'Hearn E. Grün H. U. Käufl D. J. Osip D. J. Lien T. Kostiuk S. B. Peschke R. G. Walker 5 A tale of two very different comets: ISO and MSX measurements of dust emission from 126P/IRAS (1996) and 2P/Encke (1997) Icarus 2004 171 2 444–462 2004Icar..171..444L 10.1016/j.icarus.2004.05.015 126P/IRAS Orbit http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=126P Minor Planet Center 2025-11-30 M. L. Paradowski A New Indirect Method of Determining Density of Cometary Nuclei https://acta.astrouw.edu.pl/Vol72/n2/pdf/pap_72_2_4.pdf Acta Astronomica 2022 72 2 141–159 2022AcA....72..141P 0001-5237 10.32023/0001-5237/72.2.4 free D. Tomko L. Neslušan Search for New Parent Bodies of Meteoroid Streams Among Comets I: Showers of Comets 126P/1996 P1 and 161P/2004 V2 with Radiants on Southern Sky https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11038-012-9387-x.pdf Earth, Moon, & Planets 2012 108 2 123–138 2012EM&P..108..123T 10.1007/s11038-012-9387-x free S. Yoshida 126P/IRAS http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0126P/index.html www.aerith.net 2023-07-20 External links 1000047 126P 126P/IRAS at the Minor Planet Center database 126P/IRAS at Gary W. Kronk's Cometography 126P/IRAS at Seiichi Yoshida's website 125P/Spacewatch 127P/Holt–Olmstead Category:Periodic comets 0126 0126 IRAS 0126 * *