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Comet Morehouse

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C/1908 R1 (Morehouse)
Comet Morehouse depicted from a 1908 postcard.[1]
Discovery
Discovered byDaniel W. Morehouse
Discovery siteYerkes Observatory
Discovery date1 September 1908
Designations
1908c
1908 III
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch30 October 1908 (JD 2418244.5)
Observation arc88 days
Number of
observations		137
Perihelion0.945 AU
Semi-major axis–1,058.049 AU
Eccentricity1.00089
Inclination140.174°
104.459°
Argument of
periapsis		171.584°
Last perihelion26 December 1908
Earth MOID0.0668 AU
Jupiter MOID2.3183 AU

Comet Morehouse (modern formal designation: C/1908 R1) was a bright, non-periodic comet discovered by US astronomer Daniel Walter Morehouse on September 1, 1908 (the discovery photograph was taken on September 1, but the comet was not noticed until the following day), at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Morehouse was a graduate student at the time.[3][4] It was unusual in the rapid variations seen in the structure of its tail.[5][6] At times, the tail seemed to split into up to six separate tails;[citation needed] at others, the tail appeared completely detached from the head of the comet.[7] The tail was further unusual in that it formed while the comet was still 2 AU away from the Sun[7] (where distances of 1.5 AU are more usual)[citation needed], and that there was a high concentration of the CO ion in its spectrum.[8]

As is typical for comets fresh from the Oort Cloud, its orbital solution is more or less parabolic;[4] if its orbit is in fact closed, it will likely not return for millions of years.

References

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  1. ^ "Antique Astronomy Postcards: Comet Morehouse - 1908". Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  2. ^ "C/1908 R1 (Morehouse) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  3. ^ Fox, P. (June 1941). "Daniel Walter Morehouse". Popular Astronomy. 49: 289. Bibcode:1941PA.....49..289F. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b van Biesbroeck, G. (August 1937). "The definitive orbit of comet Morehouse 1908 III". Publications of the Yerkes Observatory. 8: 1–157. Bibcode:1937PYerO...8....5V. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  5. ^ Miller, J. A. (1908). "Photographic Observations of Comet Morehouse". Popular Astronomy. 16: 653. Bibcode:1908PA.....16..653M. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  6. ^ Motherwell, R. M. (1910). "Appendix D: Double star measures. Photographs of Comet Morehouse, Occultations of Stars by the Moon. Field Instruments. Aberrations of the Stellar Camera Objective". Dominion Astrophysical Observatory Annual Report. 5: 257–554. Bibcode:1910DAOAR...5..257M. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  7. ^ a b Niedner, M. B., Jr. (October 1980). "Interplanetary gas. XXV - A solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field interpretation of cometary light outbursts". Astrophysical Journal. 241 (1). Bibcode:1980ApJ...241..820N. doi:10.1086/158393. Retrieved 8 September 2024.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Jackson, W. M.; Donn, B. (1968). "Photochemical effects in the production of cometary radicals and ions". Icarus. 8: 270–280. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(68)90079-1. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
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