C/1894 G1 (Gale)

For the other comets discovered by Walter F. Gale, see 34D/Gale and C/1912 R1 (Gale).

C/1894 G1 (Gale)

Comet Gale (1894 II) photographed by Edward E. Barnard from the Lick Observatory on 5 May 1894
Discovery
Discovered by	Walter F. Gale
Discovery site	Sydney, Australia
Discovery date	1 April 1894
Designations
Alternative designations	1894 II, 1894b
Orbital characteristics
Epoch	4 June 1894 (JD 2412983.5)
Observation arc	82 days
Number of observations	45
Aphelion	176.85 AU
Perihelion	0.983 AU
Semi-major axis	88.914 AU
Eccentricity	0.98298
Orbital period	838.42 years
Inclination	86.959°
Longitude of ascending node	207.89°
Argument of periapsis	324.17°
Mean anomaly	0.060°
Last perihelion	13 April 1894
TJupiter	0.124
Earth MOID	0.076 AU
Jupiter MOID	1.230 AU
Physical characteristics
Comet nuclear magnitude (M2)	6.3
Apparent magnitude	3.0 (1894 apparition)

C/1894 G1 (Gale), also known formerly as 1894 II, is a long-period comet that became barely visible to the naked eye in May 1894. It is the first of three comets discovered by Australian astronomer Walter Frederick Gale.

Possible meteor shower

The comet's small minimum orbit intersection distance with Earth (0.076 AU) led scientists in 2021 to suggest that C/1894 G1 might potentially be the progenitor of a meteor shower known as the December Iota Ursae Majorids, however no definite link has yet been found between that particular shower and the comet.

External links

• C/1894 G1 at the JPL Small-Body Database