However, the close encounter with Jupiter had altered the comet's orbital parameters severely. The semi-major axis was reduced from 6.9 to 4.0 AU, as the aphelion distance decreased from 8.0 to 4.5 AU, and the perihelion distance from 5.8 to 3.4 AU. Consequently, the comet's orbit had become transformed from a centaur-like orbit to one that completely lay inside the orbit of Jupiter. As the comet was now much closer to the Sun, it became active and its increased brightness combined with a closer distance from Earth gave rise to its discovery in 1943, five months after having passed its perihelion.