12P/Pons-Brooks 480959 218939055 2008-06-12T21:13:48Z 84.253.136.14 {{Infobox Comet | name=12P/Pons-Brooks | image= | discoverer=[[Jean-Louis Pons]]<BR/>[[William Robert Brooks]] | discovery_date=[[July 12]], [[1812]] | designations=1812; 1884 I; 1954 VII | epoch= | semimajor=17.13 [[Astronomical Unit|AU]] | perihelion=0.77 AU | aphelion=33.8 AU | eccentricity=0.955 | period=70.9 [[Julian year (astronomy)|a]] | inclination=74.2° | last_p=[[May 22]], [[1954]] | next_p=[[2024]] }} '''12P/Pons-Brooks''' is the designation for a periodic [[comet]] with a period of 71 [[year]]s. == 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 an 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. {{PeriodicComets Navigator|11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR|13P/Olbers}} [[Category:Comets|Pons-Brooks]] [[fr:12P/Pons-Brooks]] [[it:12P/Pons-Brooks]] [[pl:12P/Pons-Brooks]] [[ru:Комета Понса — Брукса]] [[sk:12P/Pons-Brooks]] [[zh:12P/龐士-布魯克斯彗星]]