{{short description|Jupiter-familg comet}}
{{short description|Jupiter- comet}}
{{For|other comets discovered by the “Purple Mountain Observatory”|Comet Tsuchinshan}}
{{For|other comets discovered by the “Purple Mountain Observatory”|Comet Tsuchinshan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}}
Jupiter-family comet
60P/Tsuchinshan, also known as Tsuchinshan 2, is a Jupiter-family comet with an orbital period of around 6.79 years.[5] Tsuchinshan is the Wade-Giles transliteration corresponding to the pinyin Zǐjīn Shān 紫金山, which is Mandarin Chinese for “Purple Mountain”.
It was discovered at the Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanjing, China on 11 January 1965 with a magnitude estimated as a very faint 15. The elliptical orbit was computed to give a perihelion date of 9 February 1965 with an orbital period of 6.69 years. Revised calculations predicted the next perihelion would be on 28 November 1971 and Elizabeth Roemer of the University of Arizona successfully relocated the comet with the 154-cm reflector at Catalina. It was also observed in 1978, 1985, 1991-1992, and 1998-1999.
The comet peaked at about apparent magnitude 16.3 in 2012.[6] On 29 December 2077 the comet will pass 0.068 AU (10,200,000 km; 6,300,000 mi) from Mars.[7]
- ^
“Horizons Batch for 60P/Tsuchinshan 2 (90000658) on 2032-Mar-10” (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 29 September 2025. Retrieved 29 September 2025. (JPL#K253/1, Soln.date: 2025-Feb-28)
- ^ a b “60P/Tsuchinshan – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup”. ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- ^ “60P/Tsuchinshan Orbit”. Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- ^ P. L. Lamy; I. Toth; Y. R. Fernández; H. A. Weaver (2004). “The Sizes, Shapes, Albedos, and Colors of Cometary Nuclei” (PDF). Comets II. University of Arizona Press. pp. 223–264. Bibcode:2004come.book..223L. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1v7zdq5.22. ISBN 978-0-8165-2450-1. JSTOR j.ctv1v7zdq5.22.
- ^ “60P/Tsuchinshan 2”. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ Seiichi Yoshida (7 December 2011). “60P/Tsuchinshan 2 (2012)”. Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet Catalog. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ^ “JPL Close-Approach Data: 60P/Tsuchinshan 2” (2011-11-14 last obs). Archived from the original on 13 December 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
