81P/Wild

81P/Wild
Comet Wild 2 (81P/Wild) nucleus in 2004
Discovery
Discovered byPaul Wild
Discovery date1978
Designations
1978 XI; 1984 XIV;
1990 XXVIII
Orbital characteristics
EpochMarch 6, 2006
Aphelion5.308 AU
Perihelion1.592 AU
Semi-major axis3.45 AU
Eccentricity0.5384
Orbital period6.408 years
Inclination3.2394°
Last perihelionDecember 15, 2022[1]
July 20, 2016[2]
February 22, 2010[3]
Next perihelionMay 14, 2029[4]
Jupiter MOID0.012 AU (1,800,000 km)[5]

Comet 81P/Wild, also known as Wild 2 (pronounced "vilt two") (/ˈvɪlt/ VILT), is a comet with a period of 6.4 years named after Swiss astronomer Paul Wild, who discovered it on January 6, 1978, using a 40-cm Schmidt telescope at Zimmerwald, Switzerland.[6]

For most of its 4.5 billion-year lifetime, Wild 2 probably had a more distant and circular orbit. In September 1974, it passed within one million kilometers of the planet Jupiter, the strong gravitational pull of which perturbed the comet's orbit and brought it into the inner Solar System.[7] Its orbital period changed from 43 years to about 6 years,[7] and its perihelion is now about 1.59 astronomical units (AU).[1]

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