Kazuo Kinoshita's calculation revealed that it approached to Jupiter
down to 0.15 A.U. in 1987, and the perihelion distance was reduced
from 3.4 A.U. down to 2.0 A.U. Then the comet comes to be bright, and
it was discovered.
The light curves are very different among every apparition, maybe
because it has just come to the inner Solar System. The brightness at
the perihelion passage differs by about 4 mag between 1996 and 2003.
Returns and Appearances
Discovered
Appeared
Not observed
Appeared before discovery
Not observed before discovery
Returns in the future
The perihelion dates in the past appearances are printed on Catalog of Cometary Orbits 1996.
Information on the discovery and historical highlights are available at General Comet Info (Gary W. Kronk).
Orbital elements in the past and future are calculated by Kazuo Kinoshita (http://www9.ocn.ne.jp/~comet/pcmtn/0116p.htm).
Copyright(C) Seiichi Yoshida (comet@aerith.net). All rights reserved.