Periodic comet P/6, d'Arrest is a member of Jupiter's "family" of comets. Its orbital period is just over 6.5 years and its orbit takes it from within the orbit of Mars, out to just beyond the orbit of Jupiter. In 1968, a close approach to Jupiter had reduced the perihelion distance to only 1.17 AU, and in 1976, perihelion passage coincided with the comet's closest approach to the Earth. As a result the comet was an easy naked eye object. However a subsiquent close approach to Jupiter has once again increased to perihelion distance and as a result the comet has not been so bright during recent perihelion passages. Nevertheless, comet d'Arrest is still one of the brighter periodic comets.
