158P/Kowal–LINEAR

Jupiter-family comet other comets of the same name Comet Kowal List of comets discovered by the LINEAR project December 2025 158P/Kowal–LINEAR IAUC_3395 IAUC_8244 Charles T. KowalLINEAR Palomar Observatory 24 July 197912 September 2001 P/1979 O1P/2001 RG 100 1979h jpldata MPC 12 July 2012 (JD 2456120.5) 45.51 years 1,093 4.576 AU 4.865 AU 4.721 AU 0.03061 10.258 years 7.908° 137.31° 232.61° 352.78° 2.988 3.579 AU 0.416 AU jpldata 5.42 km miSolontoi_2012 7.1 12.7 12 May 2021Horizons2021 8 November 2036Horizons2036 158P/Kowal–LINEAR is a Jupiter-family comet with a 10.3-year orbit around the Sun. It is one of six comets discovered by American astronomer, Charles T. Kowal, and also one of several by the LINEAR program. Observational history 1979 discovery and loss In August 1979, Charles T. Kowal reported to the IAU that he had discovered a comet from photographic plates taken from the Palomar Observatory on 24 July 1979.IAUC_3395 He described it as a diffuse 19th-magnitude object with no condensation nor tail within the constellation Sagitta.Reported initial position upon discovery was: α 19 25.5, δ 17 48IAUC_3395 Orbital calculations by Eleanor F. Helin indicated that Kowal's comet is periodic.IAUC_3397 Brian G. Marsden confirmed Helin's computations, however he also noted that it was not observed since 27 July, essentially classifying Kowal's comet as lost.IAUC_3404 2003 rediscovery In November 2003, A. E. Gleason reported cometary activity on an asteroid-like object found by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program called P/2001 RG 100, first detected in 12 September 2001.IAUC_8244 Further orbital calculations by Marsden and later Shuichi Nakano found that its orbit is identical to Kowal's previously lost comet in 1979.IAUC_8247 After both comets were confirmed to be the same object, the IAU Committee on Small-Body Nomenclature agreed to rename the comet as 158P/Kowal–LINEAR on 8 December 2003.IAUC_8253 Physical characteristics Observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in 2012 indicated that the nucleus of 158P/Kowal–LINEAR is approximately 5.42 km mi in radius.Solontoi_2012 Orbit The Minor Planet Center had the comet coming to perihelion on 9 May 2021,MPC and JPL had the comet coming to perihelion on 12 May 2021.Horizons2021 A close approach to Jupiter on 24 July 2022 will notably lift the orbit and increase the orbital period.jpldata The next perihelion passage will be in 2036 at a distance of 5.2 AU e6km unit from the Sun.Horizons2036 Notes References Horizons Batch for 158P/Kowal-LINEAR on 2021-May-12 JPL Horizons Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%27158P%27&START_TIME=%272021-May-09%27&STOP_TIME=%272021-May-15%27&STEP_SIZE=%273%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27 2021-09-13 (JPL#131/Soln.date: 2021-Sep-04) Horizons Batch for 158P/Kowal-LINEAR on 2036-Nov-08 JPL Horizons Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%27158P%27&START_TIME=%272036-Nov-01%27&STOP_TIME=%272036-Nov-15%27&STEP_SIZE=%273%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27 2021-09-13 (JPL#131/Soln.date: 2021-Sep-04) C. T. Kowal B. G. Marsden Comet Kowal (1979h) http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03300/03395.html IAU Circular 1979-08-27 3395 2 1979IAUC.3395....2K E. F. Helin D. R. Janke C. T. Kowal B. G. Marsden Comet Kowal (1979h) http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03300/03397.html IAU Circular 1979-08-29 3397 2 1979IAUC.3397....2H B. G. Marsden Comet Kowal (1979h) http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03400/03404.html IAU Circular 1979-09-14 3404 2 1979IAUC.3404....2M A. E. Gleason J. Young B. G. Marsden D. W. Green Comet P/2001 RG 100 (LINEAR) http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/08200/08244.html IAU Circular 2003-11-28 8244 1 2003IAUC.8244....1G S. Nakano D. W. Green Comet P/2001 RG 100 1979 O1 http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/08200/08247.html IAU Circular 2003-12-02 8247 2 2003IAUC.8247....2N D. W. Green Comet 158P/Kowal–LINEAR http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/08200/08253.html IAU Circular 2003-12-08 8253 2 2003IAUC.8253....2G 158P/Kowal–LINEAR – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=158P ssd.jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion Laboratory 2021-09-13 158P/Kowal–LINEAR Orbit https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=158P Minor Planet Center 2020-07-04 M. Solontoi Ž. Ivezíc M. Juríc Ensemble properties of comets in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Icarus 2012 218 1 571–584 2012Icar..218..571S 1202.3999 10.1016/j.icarus.2011.10.008 External links 1000468 158P 158P/Kowal–LINEAR at the Minor Planet Center database 158P/Kowal–LINEAR at Seiichi Yoshida's website 158P/Kowal–LINEAR at Gary W. Kronk's Cometography 157P/Tritton 159P/LONEOS Category:Periodic comets 0158 0158 Category:Discoveries by Charles T. Kowal # # * 0158 0158