Comet Blanpain
A tiny comet lost for 184 years, found again as an asteroid, and the source of the Phoenicid meteor storm of 1956.
Key facts
- Designation
- 289P/Blanpain
- Type
- Jupiter-family comet (nearly extinct)
- Orbital period
- about 5.3 years
- Closest to the Sun
- about 0.96 AU (about 144 million km)
- Farthest from the Sun
- about 5.1 AU
- Tilt of orbit
- about 5°
- Nucleus
- about 300 m across, one of the smallest comet nuclei known
- Discovered
- by Jean-Jacques Blanpain at Marseille on 28 November 1819; recovered in 2003 as asteroid 2003 WY25
- Returns
- about every five years
Orbit
Blanpain goes round the Sun every five years, between Earth's orbit and Jupiter's, close to the plane of the planets. Its dust meets Earth in early December at a slow 13 km/s.
Size and nature
The nucleus is only about 300 m across. In 1819 the comet was bright enough to be found with a small telescope; when recovered in 2003 it looked like a faint asteroid, with only a trace of activity. Astronomers think it broke apart soon after 1819, leaving a small remnant and a lot of dust.
History
Jean-Jacques Blanpain found the comet at Marseille in November 1819, and Jean-Louis Pons saw it days later. Then it vanished. In 2003 a small asteroid, 2003 WY25, was found on an orbit that matched; in 2005 a faint coma was detected, and in 2013 the object had an outburst, confirming that it was Blanpain's long-lost comet.
Meteor showers
On 5 December 1956 observers in Japan and on a Japanese ship sailing to Antarctica saw a meteor storm from the constellation Phoenix, at about 100 an hour. The shower then vanished for decades. Calculations made after the comet's recovery showed that the 1956 storm came from dust trails shed around the late 1700s and early 1800s. A smaller return of the Phoenicids, seen in December 2014, matched predictions. Some astronomers now doubt that so small a remnant could have made the whole stream, which supports the idea of a break-up.
Its meteor showers
- The Phoenicids peak around 1–2 December; about variable: about 100 in 1956; weak since an hour at best; about 15–18 km/s
Key dates
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 28 November 1819 | Jean-Jacques Blanpain discovered the comet later lost for 184 years. |
| 5 December 1956 | A Phoenicid meteor storm, from the remains of Comet Blanpain, was seen from Japan. |
Did you know?
Blanpain was lost from 1819 until 2003, longer than almost any other comet later recovered.
Its nucleus is smaller than many asteroids that pass Earth.
The 1956 storm was seen from a ship on its way to Antarctica.