52P/Harrington-Abell

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Jupiter-family Comet
• Comparable in size to Mount Everest (2.60 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

52P/Harrington-Abell is a mid-sized comet whose orbit features a relatively short period, low inclination, and is controlled by Jupiter's gravitational effects. NASA JPL has not classified 52P/Harrington-Abell as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

52P/Harrington-Abell orbits the sun every 2,770 days (7.58 years), coming as close as 1.77 AU and reaching as far as 5.94 AU from the sun. 52P/Harrington-Abell is about 2.6 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to Mount Everest.

No Close Approaches

52P/Harrington-Abell's orbit is 0.81 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a very wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.

Orbital simulations conducted by NASA JPL's CNEOS do not show any close approaches to Earth.

Images and Observations

52P/Harrington-Abell's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 1, 2013. It was last officially observed on May 26, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 1,156 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

This comet is not considered a viable target for human exploration by the NHATS study.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 52P/Harrington-Abell:

• 18916 (2000 OG44)
• 30512 (2001 HO8)
• 212334 (2005 SL204)

References

• JPL Small Body Database
• Mission Design
• Sky Finder Chart

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 52P/Harrington-Abell is indicated by a ◯ pink circle. Note that the object may not be in your current field of view. Use the controls below to adjust position, location, and time.

Size Rendering

The above comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of 52P/Harrington-Abell to create an approximate landscape rendering with Mount Everest in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.