Thanks Jonathan for explaining the current nomenclature.
However, U.S. astronomers still often use 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 or even
29P/S-W1.
It's rather like the change in the abbreviation for the Astronomical Unit
which has changed from AU to au . Not everyone is up to speed as yet !!

Nick A. is right though about the orbit, which on JPL has the most recent
as:
Epoch 2011-Jun-13.0    K192/35 (default)

Richard

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Shanklin - UKRI BAS" <jdsh@bas.ac.uk>
To: <baa-comet@simplelists.com>
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2020 5:07 PM
Subject: RE: [BAA Comets] Observations of 29P

>I suspect that if you have that designation it is probably for very old
>elements - you need to use some valid for 2020.
>
> The current designation for the comet is 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann.  Prior
> to the introduction of the scheme numbering periodic comets they were
> referred to as for example Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 and Schwassmann-Wachmann
> 2 (now 31P/ Schwassmann-Wachmann) to distinguish comets with the same
> name.  If we had stuck to the old scheme there would be a large number of
> PanSTARRS comets - I think we are probably up to PanSTARRS 13, which
> instead is numbered 400P/PanSTARRS.
>
> Regards,
>
> BAA Comet Section visual observations co-ordinator
> https://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds/
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: baa-comet@simplelists.com <baa-comet@simplelists.com> On Behalf Of
> Nick Atkinson
> Sent: 16 November 2020 16:34
> To: baa-comet@simplelists.com
> Subject: Re: [BAA Comets] Observations of 29P
>
> Hi Nick,
>
> Is this the correct one: Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 [2011]
>
> Nick
>
> On 14/11/2020 14:30, Nick James wrote:
>> Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann is a fascinating object. It orbits
>> beyond Jupiter and, compared to the comets that we are used to, it has
>> a massive nucleus, over 60km in diameter. It also has frequent outbursts.
>>
>> The section's 29P observation programme is run by Richard Miles and he
>> has recently added a new page to the Comet Section website which you
>> can find here:
>>
>> https://britastro.org/node/24942
>>
>> This page will be frequently updated with observational news. In fact,
>> it currently includes a report of a mini-outburst from yesterday (Nov
>> 13), so it is worth checking back regularly to see the latest news and
>> analysis.
>>
>> Our objective is to observe this comet in a standard way so that
>> Richard can receives estimates with a high degree of consistency
>> between observers. Details of the approach to be adopted are on this
>> web page and they are reproduced in the section observing guide which
>> you can download from here:
>>
>> https://britastro.org/node/6817
>>
>> The comet is now well placed for northern hemisphere observers and we
>> would like to receive your observations. If you have not already done
>> so please consider adding this fascinating comet to your programmes.
>>
>> Many thanks to Richard for running this programme and maintaining the
>> web page.
>>
>> Nick James. Director.
>>
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