Discovered by P.M. Ryves Semi-major axis N/A Next perihelion ejection Last perihelion 26 August 1931 | Discovery date August 14, 1931 Orbital period N/A Discovered 14 August 1931 | |
Alternative
designations 1931c; 1931 E; C/1931 P1 Similar Great Comet of, C/1881 K1, C/1874 H1 | ||
Ryves Comet, also known as C/1931 P1, 1931 E or 1931c, was discovered by P.M. Ryves, an English amateur astronomer, on August 14, 1931. His find was made using a small telescope in Zaragoza, Spain. The comet was later observed from the Yerkes Observatory and the University of California Leuschner Observatory.
Very near Sun
It appeared as a ball of hot gas traveling at one hundred miles per second from the Naval Observatory. The comet passed within 7,000,000 miles of the Sun on August 26. A wanderer in the solar system it is considered unlikely to return from outer space.
Ryves Comet was of ninth magnitude brightness by October 9, 1931 and was not observable with the naked eye. Astronomers at the Yerkes Observatory waited until just prior to dawn to observe and photograph it. The comet came into view just ahead of the Sun. Yerkes Observatory director, Edwin B. Frost, determined that Ryves Comet was two hours east of the Sun and seven degrees removed from it. In October it was one hundred times fainter than when it was first observed in August.