12P/Pons-Brooks
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12P/Pons-Brooks is the designation for a periodic comet with a period of 71 years.
Comet Parameters
| Diameter: | ? km |
| Orbital period: | 70.9 years |
| Orbital eccentricity: | 0.955 |
| Orbital inclination: | 74.2 degrees |
| Discovered: | 1812 |
Discovery
12P/Pons-Brooks was discovered on July 12, 1812 by Jean-Louis Pons. Independently, it was later found by Vincent Wisniewski on August 1, and Alexis Bouvard on August 2 the same year. In 1883 it was accidentally "discovered" by William Robert Brooks and later identified as the same object. Shortly after its initial discovery it was found to have a orbital period of about 70 years with an error of about 5 years. Johann Franz Encke determined a definitive orbit with a period of 70.68 years. This orbit was used to generate an ephemeris for the 1883 return, but searches were unsuccessful, until it was rediscovered by Brooks.