178P/Hug–Bell is a Jupiter-family comet with a 6.9-year orbit around the Sun. It was discovered by Northeast Kansas Amateur Astronomers' League members Gary Hug and Graham Bell and is thought to be the first periodic comet to be discovered by amateurs. It was declared a comet less than two days after its initial discovery, after having its course confirmed on previous images.
Orbit Hug–Bell's orbital period is about seven years; its orbit is eccentric, though less so than many comets. Hug–Bell's orbit lies entirely outside the orbit of Mars, but at its aphelion overlaps in solar distance with the orbit of Jupiter. Because it never comes closer to the Sun than about , it is never expected to be a very bright comet, with a typical perihelion magnitude of 18–19.
References
External links
at the Minor Planet Center database 178P/Hug–Bell at Seiichi Yoshida's website