88P/Howell is a periodic comet with a 5.5 year orbital period. It was discovered on 29 August 1981. In 1975 the comet's perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) was 1.9 AU, but a close approach to Jupiter in 1978 perturbed the perihelion distance closer to the Sun. During the 2009 apparition the comet became as bright as apparent magnitude 8. It last came to perihelion on 6 April 2015; the next perihelion will be on 26 September 2020. On 14 September 2031 the comet will pass from Mars. Between 2000–2050 the closest the comet will come to Earth is in June 2042. In response to New Frontiers program call for Mission 4, a team from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) submitted a mission concept proposal called Comet Rendezvous, Sample Acquisition, Investigation, and Return (CORSAIR) that would perform a sample return from comet 88P/Howell. During the 2020 apparition the comet has brightened to about apparent magnitude 10.7 and should reach magnitude 9. References External links Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Horizons Ephemeris 88P at Kronk's Cometography 88P at CometBase database Periodic comets 0088 20150406 Comets in 2020 19810829