# 86P/Wild

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"Wild 3" redirects here. For other comets of the same name, see [Comet Wild](/source/Comet_Wild).

**86P/Wild** (pronounced *86P/Vilt*) is a periodic comet in the [Solar System](/source/Solar_System) with a current orbital period of 6.84 years.[4] Its nucleus is estimated to have an [effective radius](/source/Comet_nucleus_effective_radius) of 0.37 ± 0.02 kilometers.[5]

It was discovered on photographic plates exposed on 11/12 April 1980 by [Paul Wild](/source/Paul_Wild_(Swiss_astronomer)) of the Astronomical Institute of [University of Bern](/source/University_of_Bern), Switzerland at the nearby [Zimmerwald Observatory](/source/Zimmerwald_Observatory). He reported the brightness at a magnitude of 15.5 and that the comet was diffuse. He rediscovered it on 7 May 1980 and calculations by [Brian G. Marsden](/source/Brian_G._Marsden) estimated that perihelion would take place on 6 October 1980.

[Syuichi Nakano](/source/Syuichi_Nakano) calculated the next perihelion would be 31 August 1987 and the comet was duly observed by [Tom Gehrels](/source/Tom_Gehrels) and [J. V. Scotti](/source/James_Vernon_Scotti) on the [Spacewatch](/source/Spacewatch) telescope at [Kitt Peak Observatory](/source/Kitt_Peak_Observatory), Arizona, USA. Perihelion was 1 September.

The same team re-observed it in 1994 with a faint brightness of magnitude 21. It has since been observed in 2001, 2008 and 2015.

## See also

- [List of numbered comets](/source/List_of_numbered_comets)

## References

1. ["86p/Wild 3"](http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0086P/index.html). Retrieved 14 April 2015.

1. ["Horizons Batch for 86P/Wild 3 (90000883) on 2029-Jan-23"](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%27DES%3D86P%3BCAP%27&START_TIME=%272029-Jan-22%2018%27&STOP_TIME=%272029-Jan-23%2012%27&STEP_SIZE=%271%20hour%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27) (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). [JPL Horizons](/source/JPL_Horizons_On-Line_Ephemeris_System). Retrieved 2026-04-15.

1. ["86P/Wild 3"](http://cometography.com/pcomets/086p.html). Gary Kronk. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090808003750/http://www.cometography.com/pcomets/086p.html) 8 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 14 April 2015.

1. Lamy, P. L.; Toth, I.; Weaver, H. A.; A'Hearn, M. F.; Jorda, L. (11 April 2011). "Properties of the nuclei and comae of 10 ecliptic comets from Hubble Space Telescope multi-orbit observations★: HST observations of 10 ecliptic comets". *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society*. **412** (3): 1573–1590. [doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17934.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17934.x)

## External links

- [86P/Wild 3](http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0086P/index.html) at Seiichi Yoshida's website
- [86P/Wild](https://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/comet/86) at Gideon van Buitenen's website

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [86P/Wild](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86P%2FWild) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86P%2FWild?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.