479P/Elenin, provisional designation P/, is a Jupiter-family comet with an orbital period estimated at 13.3 years. It is the second of five comets discovered by Russian astronomer, Leonid Elenin.
Observational history The comet was discovered on 7 July 2011 when the comet was 2.38 AU from the Sun and 1.4 AU from the Earth and had an apparent magnitude of 19.5. It had come to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) around 20 January 2011 at from the Sun. It came to opposition 178.6° from the Sun on 22 July 2011 in the constellation Sagittarius.
On 29 January 2013, the Minor Planet Center awarded Leonid Elenin a 2012 Edgar Wilson Award for the discovery of comets by amateurs.
Maik Meyer proposed that asteroid , which was discovered by PanSTARRS on 18 November 2023, is the return of P/ (Elenin). The link was later confirmed by Shuichi Nakano and Daniel Green. The 2024 apparition was the most favorable in decades, with the comet approaching to Earth on 4 May 2024, one day before perihelion. The comet appeared gasy and diffuse and brightened to an apparent magnitude of 10 to 11.
Physical characteristics The radius of the nucleus is estimated to be less than .
References
External links
at the Minor Planet Center database Survey anniversary gift – a new comet is discovered! (Leonid Elenin – SpaceObs – 19 July 2011) New Comet: P/ (Luca Buzzi – 19 July 2011) New Comet: P/ (Remanzacco Observatory – 19 July 2011)