View source for 56P/Slaughter–Burnham

{{Short description|Periodic comet with 11 year orbit}}
{{Distinguish|C/1958 R1 (Burnham–Slaughter)}}
{{For|other comets discovered by Robert Burnham Jr.|Comet Burnham}}
{{Infobox comet
| name=56P/Slaughter–Burnham
| image=
| discoverer=[[Charles D. Slaughter]]<br/>[[Robert Burnham Jr.|Robert Burnham]]
| discovery_date=January 27, 1959
| designations=1958 VI; 1970 V; 1981 XVIII;<br/> 1993 X
| epoch=March 6, 2006
| semimajor=5.107 [[Astronomical Unit|AU]]
| perihelion=2.535 AU
| aphelion=7.679 AU
| eccentricity=0.5036
| period=11.54 [[Julian year (astronomy)|a]]
| inclination=  8.1558°
| Jupiter_moid = {{Convert|0.02|AU|km|abbr=on}}<ref name=jpldata/>
| last_p=July 18, 2016<ref name="NK1272"/><br/>January 14, 2005
| next_p=2027-Dec-19<ref name=MPC>{{mpc|56p}}</ref>
}}

'''56P/Slaughter–Burnham''' is a [[List of periodic comets|periodic]] [[comet]] in the [[Solar System]] with a period of 11.54 years.<ref name=kronk/> It is the second of two comets co-discovered by [[Robert Burnham Jr.]] and [[Charles D. Slaughter]].

== Observational history ==
It was discovered in 1959 by [[Charles D. Slaughter]] and [[Robert Burnham Jr.|Robert Burnham]] of the [[Lowell Observatory]], Flagstaff, Arizona during a photographic survey. They spotted the comet, with a faint brightness of magnitude 16, on a plate exposed on 10 December 1958. By monitoring its movement over a series of consecutive days, [[Elizabeth Roemer]] was able to calculate its orbit, suggesting a [[perihelion]] date of 4 August 1958 and an orbital period of 11.18 years.

It was subsequently observed in 1970, 1981, 1993, 2005 and 2016. Its next perihelion will be on December 19, 2027.<ref name=Yoshida/>

The nucleus of the comet has a radius of 1.55 kilometers based on observations by [[W. M. Keck Observatory|Keck]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meech |first1=K.J. |last2=Hainaut |first2=O.R. |last3=Marsden |first3=B.G. |title=Comet nucleus size distributions from HST and Keck telescopes |journal=Icarus |date=August 2004 |volume=170 |issue=2 |pages=463–491 |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2004.03.014|bibcode=2004Icar..170..463M }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist
| refs =
<ref name="NK1272">{{cite web
  |date=2005-10-27
  |title=56P/Slaughter-Burnham (NK 1272)
  |publisher=OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections
  |author=Syuichi Nakano
  |author-link=Syuichi Nakano
  |url=http://www.oaa.gr.jp/~oaacs/nk/nk1272.htm
  |access-date=2012-02-18}}</ref>

<ref name=kronk>{{cite web
  |url=http://cometography.com/pcomets/056p.html
  |title=56P/Slaughter-Burnham
  |publisher=Kronk's Cometography
  |access-date=12 March 2015}}</ref>

<ref name=Yoshida>{{cite web
  |url= http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0056P
  |title=56P/Slaughter-Burnham appearances
  |publisher=Seiichi Yoshida
  |access-date=2020-06-30}}</ref>

<ref name=jpldata>{{cite web
 |type=last observation: 2017-01-08 
 |title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 56P/Slaughter-Burnham 
 |url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=56P;cad=1 
 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170226165006/http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=56P;cad=1 
 |archive-date=2017-02-26 
 |url-status=live 
 |publisher=[[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] 
}}</ref>

}}

== Further reading ==
* [https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/sic/collection/journal/146_Biesbroeck_CommLPL_1970.pdf No. 146 The Orbit of Comet Burnham-Slaught 1958e-1959I by G. Van Biesbroeck]

== External links ==
* {{JPL Small Body|id=1000087}}
* [http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0056P/index.html 56P/Slaughter-Burnham] – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter-Burnham, 056P}}
[[Category:Periodic comets]]
[[Category:Numbered comets|0056]]
[[Category:Jupiter-family comets|056P]]
[[Category:Comets in 2016|056P]]
[[Category:Astronomical objects discovered in 1959|19590127]]


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