65P/Gunn is a periodiccomet in the Solar System which has a current orbital period of 6.79 years. The comet is a short-period comet, orbiting the Sun every 6.79 years inside the main asteroid belt between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.[3]
It was discovered on 11 October 1970 by Professor James E. Gunn of Princeton University using the 122-cm Schmidt telescope at the Palomar Observatory. It had a low brightness of magnitude 16 plus which improves to 12 under favourable conditions.
In 1972 Elizabeth Roemer managed to observe 65P/Gunn close to aphelion.[4]
On 4 February 1970 the comet passed 0.015 AU (2,200,000 km; 1,400,000 mi) from Ceres.[5]
In 1980 was noticed that a 19th magnitude comet found in plates obtained by Palomar Observatory on 8 August 1954[6] was a previous apparition of 65/Gunn. The link was confirmed by Brian G. Marsden.[7]
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