104P/Kowal, also known as Kowal 2, is a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered by Charles T. Kowal in 1979. The orbit was confirmed after new sightings in 1991 and 1998.
By July 2027, the comet should be around apparent magnitude 14. At the perihelion passage on 12 October 2027 the solar elongation will be 66 degrees at a magnitude of approximately 11, The comet should be observable with small telescopes.
Observational history In 2003, Gary Kronk and Brian Marsden noticed that an object observed by Leo Boethin in 1973 was actually 104P/Kowal. From Boethin's report, it was apparent that comet Kowal 2 had been in a short, major outburst to apparent magnitude 9.5 in 1973.
During the 1997–98 apparition, the comet was brighter than expected, reaching an apparent magnitude of 13 in mid January. The comet wasn't observed during the 2010 apparition. During the 2022 apparition, it brightened to a magnitude of 9.2 according to Chris Wyatt.
Orbit +104P/Kowal closest Jupiter approach around 1924-May-04 Date ofclosest approach Jupiter distance(AU) Sun distance(AU) Velocitywrt Jupiter(km/s) Velocitywrt Sun(km/s) Uncertaintyregion(3-sigma) Reference 1924-May-04 ± 3 days 19.6 21.9 ± km Horizons
The comet was in an orbit with a perihelion distance of 1.50 AU and an orbital period of 6.38 years until an approach to Jupiter on 15 January 1996 reduced both to 1.40 AU and 6.18 years respectively. A further encounter with Jupiter on 4 July 2007 at a distance of 0.300 AU reduced the perihelion distance to 1.18 AU and the orbital period to 5.90 years. One more close approach to Jupiter on 30 May 2019 reduced the perihelion distance to 1.07 AU and orbital period to 5.74 years.
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References
External links
at the Minor Planet Center database 104P/Kowal at Seiichi Yoshida's website 104P/Kowal at Gideon van Buitenen's website