178P/Hug-Bell

Infobox Comet
name=178P/Hug-Bell


discoverer=Gary Hug and Graham E. Bell
discovery_date=December 10, 1999
designations=1999 X1, 2006 O1
epoch=July 4, 2006
semimajor=3.680285 AU
perihelion=1.947000 AU
aphelion= 5.414 AU
eccentricity=0.470965
period=7.06 a
inclination= 10.9629°
last_p=July 6, 2006
next_p=2013

178P/Hug-Bell is a periodic comet in our solar system. 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 first discovered by amateurs. It was declared a comet less than two days after its initial discovery, after having its course confirmed on previous images. [cite web| publisher= ICSTARS Astronomy| title= Winter, Jennifer and Winter, Vic. "Comet Hug-Bell Discovery!". |url=http://www.icstars.com/HTML/HugBell/index.html | accessdate=2006-10-18]

Hug-Bell's orbit is around seven years long and is entirely contained between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. It is not a very bright comet with a magnitude of 18.8. [cite web| publisher= Seiichi Yoshida July 21, 2006.| title= "178P/Hug-Bell (1999)". |url=http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0178P/1999X1.html | accessdate=2006-10-18]

References

External links

* [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/0178P.html 178P/Hug-Bell @ The Minor Planet Center]