94P/Russell 4

 

This comet was discovered by Ken Russell in plates exposed with the UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Springs Observatory in Australia on March 7^th 1984. It was magnitude 13 and showed a significant tail. The period was found to be 6.39 years and the perihelion distance 2.12AU. The discovery was aided by a close encounter with Jupiter (0.68AU in 1975) that reduced the perihelion distance from its previous 2.43AU to 2.12AU.

 

94P/Russell 4 has now been at 3 further apparitions, in 1990, 1997 and 2003, but is one of the least heavily observed of all the numbered periodic comets with just 20 astrometric observations at the 2003 return and the 1997 return little better covered.

 

The light curve (left) is made up from observations on just five nights by Ramón Naves & Montse Campàs (MPC 213), Álbert Sánchez (MPC 442) and José Antonio Reyes & Sensi Pastor (MPC J76). Four of the nights are pre-perihelion and one post-perihelion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seichii Yoshida finds a fit with 30 log r, suggesting that this is a highly evolved object. The values of Afrho measured are low. Although taken some way from perihelion they give a peak value of 15-cm at 2.4AU from the Sun, suggesting that this is a low activity object.

 

However, despite the 30 log r fit, which is based on a small quantity of data taken far from perihelion, the CCD data give the typical r^-5 dependence for dust production.