131P/Mueller (0131P)

Type: Periodic Perihelion date: 15 February 2026 Perihelion distance (q): 2.4 Aphelion distance (Q) : 4.9 Period (years): 7.0 Eccentricity (e): 0.34 Inclination (i): 7.4 JPL orbit diagram COBS lightcurve Atlas During the course of the second Palomar Sky Survey, Jean Mueller found this comet on a plate obtained on 15 September 1990 . The image was obtained with the 1.2-m Oschin Schmidt Telescope. Mueller estimated the magnitude as 17 and said a tail was visible to the south- southwest. The comet brightened to about 16 by late September and early October as it approached both the Sun and Earth, but slowly faded thereafter. It was last detected on 9 February 1991. The comet was independently recovered by two Japanese astronomers during 1997. A. Sugie (Dynic Astronomical Observatory) used a 0.60-m f/4.0 reflector and a CCD camera to image the comet on 29 June, while A. Nakamura (Kuma Kogen) used a 0.60-m f/6.0 Ritchey-Chretien and a CCD camera to image the comet on 5 July. Sugie gave the magnitude as 18.9, while Nakamura said it was 19.9. The latter astronomer added that a weakly condensed coma was 15 arc seconds across, and a possible faint tail extended toward PA 260 degrees. Observations (VEMag = visual equivalent magnitude) Date 10x10 mag Error VEmag Coma ' 31-Dec-18 19.86 0.04 19.4 0.2