Discovery date June 3, 1997 Semi-major axis ~1100 AU Discovered 3 June 1997 Last perihelion 22 November 1996 | Aphelion ~2210 AU Eccentricity 0.9979 Discoverer David D. Balam | |
Discovered by David D. Balam (June 8) and Gin Zhu (June 3) Epoch 1997-Aug-22 (JD 2450682.5) Similar Great Comet of, C/1874 H1, C/1881 K1 | ||
Comet Zhu–Balam (C/1997 L1) is a long-period comet first identified by David D. Balam on June 8, 1997 and originally photographed by Gin Zhu on June 3, 1997. The comet is estimated at 10 kilometres in diameter with a period of approximately 36,800 years.
Given the orbital eccentricity of this object, different epochs can generate quite different heliocentric unperturbed two-body best-fit solutions to the aphelion distance (maximum distance) of this object. For objects at such high eccentricity, the Suns barycentric coordinates are more stable than heliocentric coordinates. Using JPL Horizons the barycentric orbital elements for epoch 2015-Jan-01 generate a semi-major axis of 1100 AU and a period of approximately 36,800 years.
References
Comet Zhu–Balam Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA