Memorable Comets

Comet Denning-Fujikawa
72P/Denning-Fujikawa

    The comet discovered by British comet hunter William F. Denning in as far back as 1881 had been wandering in the darkness for almost one century since the discovery and was captured in October 1978 by sharp-eyed Mr. Shigehisa Fujikawa of Kagawa prefecture. It was thought that this confirmed the existence of this comet as 72P. However, it was not found at the next apparition of 1987 and the comet disappeared again into the darkness.
    At Geisei Observatory the 60cm reflector had been completed by then. I searched extensively and deeply along the predicted path of the comet, but failed to recover it. Thirty-six long years after Mr. Fujikawa’s rediscovery, Mr. Hidetaka Sato of Tokyo recaptured this comet safe and sound. It was a miraculous recovery accomplished by his uncompromising hard work and high level of techniques combined by remotely controlled equipment located overseas under excellent sky conditions.
    In the past the comet seems to have often brightened as a result of outbursts. It was at 6th magnitude at the time of discovery by Mr. Denning and between 10th and 11th magnitude at the time of rediscovery in 1978 by Mr. Fujikawa. The following day on October 12 1978, it was at 10.5 magnitude visually when Seki observed it with his 40cm reflector at Geisei. The coma extended for more than 3 arc-minutes, but there was no tail. It faded rapidly. This comet seems to have been discovered only in the years of outbursts just like 18D/Perrine-Mrkos.