87P/Bus (0087P)
TRY AGAIN 2026
Type: Periodic
Perihelion date: 3 April 2020
Perihelion distance (q): 3.3
Aphelion distance (Q) : 5.3
Period (years): 9.0
Eccentricity (e): 0.23
Inclination (i): 2.7
JPL orbit diagram
COBS lightcurve
S. J. Bus (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA) discovered this comet
on a plate exposed with the 122-cm UK Schmidt telescope by K. S. Russell (Siding
Spring Observatory, New South Wales, Australia) on 2 March 1981. The plate was
obtained as part of a survey of minor planets. Bus indicated a magnitude of 17.5 and
described the comet as centrally condensed with a faint tail extending about 20"
toward the northwest.
A confirmation plate was obtained by Russell on 3 March. Following the calculation of
the first orbits, Bus located prediscovery images of this comet on additional Siding
Spring plates. The first plate was obtained by Russell on 9 February and revealed the
comet at magnitude 19.5-20. The second plate was obtained by M. Hartley on 13
February and revealed the comet's magnitude as 20.
Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude)
Date
10x10 mag
Error
VEmag
Coma '
31-Dec-19
19.79
0.16
19.4
0.2
02-Jan-20
19.74
0.23
19.1
0.2
21-Jan-20
19.41
0.27
19.1
0.2
22-Jan-20
19.22
0.10
18.8
0.2
29-Jan-20
19.31
0.47
18.8
0.2
18-Feb-20
18.81
0.03
18.5
0.2
18-Mar-20
17.81
0.03
16.9
0.5
25-Mar-20
17.43
0.04
16.6
0.5
01-Apr-20
17.16
0.06
16.8
0.3
21-May-20
17.98
0.08
16.8
0.5