7968 Elst–Pizarro

Tags: Planet.

Comet Elst–Pizarro is a body that displays characteristics of both asteroids and comets and is the prototype of main-belt comets. Its orbit keeps it within the asteroid belt yet it displayed a dust tail like a comet while near perihelion in 1996 2001 and 2007. As a comet it is formally designated 133P/Elst–Pizarro.

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apoapsis (km)

5.49317e+11, 5.4945e+11

average speed (km/s)

59904.0

orbital period (μ)

1.77352e+08, 1.77354e+08

periapsis (km)

3.9586e+11, 3.96419e+11

temperature (K)

160.0

absolute magnitude

14.0, 15.3, 15.49

albedo

0.05

apparent magnitude

17.24

discovery date

1979-07-24, 1996-07-14

discoverer

Robert H. McNaught, Eric Walter Elst, Schelte J. Bus, Guido_Pizarro_(astronomer), M._R._S._Hawkins

epoch

2012-Sep-30 (JD 2456200.5), T_jup = 3.184

former name

P/1996 N2

rotation period (s)

12493.4, 12495.6