4P/Faye

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4P/Faye (or Comet Faye) is a periodic comet discovered on 25 November 1843 by Hervé Faye at the Royal Observatory in Paris.

The comet was actually first observed on 23 November, but bad weather prevented its confirmation until the 25th. It actually passed perihelion about a month before discovery, but a close pass by Earth allowed it to become bright enough for discovery. Otto Wilhelm von Struve reported that the comet was visible to the naked eye at the end of November. It remained visible for smaller telescopes until 10 January 1844 and finally was lost to larger telescopes on 10 April 1844.

In 1844 T. Henderson computed that the comet was a short period comet. By May the comet's period was calculated to be 7.43 years.

Urbain J.J. Leverrier computed the positions for the 1851 apparition, predicting perihelion in April 1851. The comet was found close to his predicted position on 28 November 1850 by James Challis.

The comet was missed during its apparitions in 1903 and 1918 due to unfavorable observing circumstances. The next return of 4/P Faye is predicted for late 2006. The comet is expected to reach a brightness of about 8th magnitude.

External link

[4P/Faye history] (from cometography.com)

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