114P/Wiseman-Skiff (0114P)
TRY AGAIN 2026
Type: Periodic
Perihelion date: 14 September 2026
Perihelion distance (q): 1.6
Aphelion distance (Q) : 5.5
Period (years): 6.7
Eccentricity (e): 0.56
Inclination (i): 18.3
JPL orbit diagram
COBS lightcurve
Atlas
This comet was found during January 1987 by Jennifer Wiseman on two photographic
plates exposed on 28 December 1986 by Brian Skiff at Lowell Observatory's
Anderson Mesa Station. The magnitude was estimated as 14. Skiff and Wiseman
were able to confirm the comet on 19 January 1987. The comet had faded to
magnitude 14.5. On both occasions the comet appeared diffuse with a strong
condensation.
The first orbit was computed and published by Brian G. Marsden on 21 January. He
used 6 positions obtained during the period of 28 December to 21 January and
indicated the comet was moving in a short-period orbit. He determined the perihelion
date as 22 November 1986, the perihelion distance as 1.506 AU, and the orbital
period as 6.53 years. Marsden said the orbit indicated the comet passed about 0.25
AU from Jupiter during 1984. With nearly a month of observations, this orbit was little
different from later orbits computed with several months of observations. The comet
was kept under observation until 25 May 1987 when T. Gehrels and J. V. Scotti
(Steward Observatory, Arizona, USA) obtained an image of magnitude 19.4 with the
0.91-m Spacewatch telescope. S. Nakano predicted the comet would next arrive at
perihelion on 4 June 1993.
B. Schmidt obtained three CCD images with the Multiple-Mirror Telescope on Mt.
Hopkins on 2 February 1993. These revealed "suspected" weak images.
Unfortunately, the images were not certain enough to establish a recovery had been
made. No other successful attempts were made until James V. Scotti announced he
had recovered the comet on Spacewatch images exposed on 16 December. The
magnitude was then 20.8 and Scotti said the coma was 13 arc seconds in diameter.
In addition, the nuclear condensation had a magnitude of 22.6 and a faint tail
extended 0.34 arc minute toward PA 286°. Scotti subsequently found the comet on a
single CCD image obtained with Spacewatch. The positions confirmed that the faint
object detected by Schmidt in February was the comet. The positions also indicated
the prediction by Nakano required a correction of only -0.08 day. No additional
observations were obtained during this apparition.
The comet was recovered by astronomers at Kitt Peak on 13 September 1999. The
comet's total magnitude exceeded 13 during November of 1999. The final observation
was also obtained at Kitt Peak on 1 May 2000.
Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude)
Date
10x10 mag
Error
VEmag
Coma '
30-Jul-19
20.16
0.15
20.1
0.2
26-Aug-19
19.07
0.07
18.9
0.2
10-Sep-19
18.52
0.08
18.2
0.2
01-Oct-19
17.59
0.02
17.3
0.3
28-Oct-19
16.37
0.01
15.7
0.5
04-Nov-19
16.08
0.01
14.7
0.8
19-Nov-19
15.59
0.02
14.5
0.8
27-Nov-19
15.47
0.02
14.1
1.0
03-Dec-19
15.38
0.02
13.6
1.4
20-Dec-19
15.36
0.02
13.4
1.1
27-Dec-19
15.46
0.03
13.4
1.1
14-Jan-20
16.11
0.01
14.0
1.0
22-Jan-20
16.29
0.01
14.6
0.9
11-Feb-20
16.69
0.02
15.4
0.7
20-Feb-20
17.07
0.02
15.5
0.8
11-Mar-20
17.76
0.07
17.1
0.4