94P/Russell, also known as Comet Russell 4, is an Encke-type comet with a 6.58-year orbit around the Sun. It is the fifth comet discovered overall by Australian astronomer, Kenneth S. Russell.
Observational history It was discovered by Kenneth S. Russell on photographic plates taken by M. Hawkins on March 7, 1984. In the discovery images, Russell estimated that the comet had an apparent magnitude of 13 and a noticeable tail of 5 arcminutes. In the year of discovery, the comet had come to perihelion in January 1984.
Orbit With an aphelion of , comet 94P currently has an orbit contained completely inside of the orbit of Jupiter. It fits the definition of an Encke-type comet with (TJupiter > 3; a < aJupiter).
Physical characteristics In July 1995, 94P was estimated to have a radius of about with an absolute magnitude (H) of 15.1. It may have a very elongated nucleus with an axial ratio of a/b ≥ 3. It is determined that it has a rotation period of 20.7 hours.
Notes
References
External links
at the Minor Planet Center database 94P/Russell at Gideon van Buitenen's website 94P/Russell at Kazuo Kinoshita's Comets Images of 94P/Russell 4 from the 2010 passage