10P/Tempel

Last updated
10P/Tempel
Comet Tempel 2 by Lick Observatory, 1946.jpg
Comet Tempel 2 in 1946 from Lick Observatory
Discovery
Discovered by Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel [1]
Discovery dateJuly 4, 1873
Designations
1873 II; 1878 III; 1894 III;
1899 IV; 1904 III; 1915 I;
1920 II; 1925 IV; 1930 VII;
1946 III; 1951 VIII; 1957 II;
1962 VI; 1967 X; 1972 X;
1978 V; 1983 X; 1988 XIV;
1994 VII;
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 2026-07-19
(JD 2461240.5) [2]
Aphelion 4.71 AU
Perihelion 1.418 AU
Semi-major axis 3.065 AU
Eccentricity 0.5374
Orbital period 5.37 yr
Inclination 12.03°
117.8°
Argument of
periapsis 		195.5°
Last perihelion24 March 2021 [2]
14 November 2015 [2] [3]
4 July 2010 [4] [5]
Next perihelion2026-Aug-02 [2] [6]
Earth MOID 0.41 AU (61 million km)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 10.6 km [1]

10P/Tempel, also known as Tempel 2, is a periodic Jupiter-family comet with a 5-year orbital period. It was discovered on July 4, 1873 by Wilhelm Tempel. [7] At the perihelion passage on 2 August 2026 the solar elongation is calculated at 164 degrees, with apparent magnitude approximately 8, [4] with closest approach to Earth on 3 August 2026 at a distance of 0.414  AU (61.9 million  km ). [1]

Contents

10P/Tempel closest Earth approach on 2026-Aug-03 [1]
Date & time of
closest approach		Earth distance
(AU)		Sun distance
(AU)		Velocity
wrt Earth
(km/s)		Velocity
wrt Sun
(km/s)		Uncertainty
region
(3-sigma)		Reference
2026-Aug-03 20:59 ± 1 min0.414  AU (61.9 million  km ; 38.5 million  mi ; 161  LD )1.42 AU (212 million km; 132 million mi)6.531.0± 204 km Horizons

The comet nucleus is estimated to be roughly the size of Halley's Comet at 10.6 kilometers in diameter with a low albedo of 0.022. [1] The nucleus is dark because hydrocarbons on the surface have been converted to a dark, tar like substance by solar ultraviolet radiation. The nucleus is large enough that even near aphelion (furthest distance from the Sun which is near the orbit of Jupiter) the comet remains brighter than about magnitude 21.

Comet Tempel II during the 1925 apparition. Comet Tempel II 1925.jpg
Comet Tempel II during the 1925 apparition.

During the 2010 apparition the comet brightened to about apparent magnitude 8. [4] The most favorable apparition of 10P/Tempel 2 was in 1925 when it came within 0.35  AU (52 million  km ; 33 million  mi ) of Earth with an apparent magnitude of 6.5. [7]

Proposed exploration

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposed a flyby of the comet with a flight spare of Mariner 4. [8] The probe was instead used for a Venus flyby as Mariner 5. [8]

10P/Tempel was to be the target of the NASA part of the International Comet Mission after transporting a European probe to a flyby of Halley's Comet. [9] The plan was to use Solar electric propulsion to get the craft to orbit the comet. [10] The program was cancelled in November 1979. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">55P/Tempel–Tuttle</span> Periodic comet

55P/Tempel–Tuttle is a retrograde periodic comet with an orbital period of 33 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with a period of between 20 and 200 years. It was independently discovered by Wilhelm Tempel on 19 December 1865, and by Horace Parnell Tuttle on 6 January 1866. It is the parent body of the Leonid meteor shower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">26P/Grigg–Skjellerup</span> Periodic comet with 5 year orbit

Comet Grigg–Skjellerup is a periodic comet. It was visited by the Giotto probe in July 1992. The spacecraft came as close as 200 km, but could not take pictures because some instruments were damaged from its encounter with Halley's Comet. The comet last came to perihelion on 25 December 2023, but was 1.8 AU from Earth and only 31 degrees from the Sun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">28P/Neujmin</span> Periodic comet with 18 year orbit

28P/Neujmin, also known as Neujmin 1, is a large periodic comet in the Solar System. With a perihelion distance of 1.5AU, this comet does not make close approaches to the Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">31P/Schwassmann–Wachmann</span> Periodic comet with 8 year orbit

31P/Schwassmann–Wachmann, also known as Schwassmann–Wachmann 2, is a periodic comet in the Solar System. It was discovered on January 17, 1929, at an apparent magnitude of 11. The comet has been seen at every apparition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresák</span> Periodic comet with 5 year orbit

41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresák is a periodic comet in the Solar System. The comet nucleus is estimated to be 1.4 kilometers in diameter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6P/d'Arrest</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

6P/d'Arrest is a periodic Jupiter-family comet in the Solar System, orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. It passed 0.15124 AU from the Earth on August 12, 1976. The most recent perihelion passage took place on September 17, 2021, when the comet had a solar elongation of 95 degrees at approximately apparent magnitude of 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7P/Pons–Winnecke</span> Periodic comet with 6-year orbit

7P/Pons–Winnecke is a periodic Jupiter-family comet with a six-year orbit. Early calculations for the 1921 apparition suggested that the orbit of the comet might collide with Earth in June, but observations on 10 April ruled out an impact. It made a very close approach to Earth in June 1927. The outward migration of perihelion created impressive meteor showers in 1916, 1921 and 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR is a periodic Jupiter-family comet in the Solar System.

20D/Westphal was a periodic comet with an orbital period of 61 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet. The comet appeared to disintergrate during the 1913 apparition and hasn't been observed since then.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">22P/Kopff</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

Comet Kopff or 22P/Kopff is a periodic comet in the Solar System. Discovered on August 23, 1906, it was named after August Kopff who discovered the comet. The comet was missed on its November 1912 return, but was recovered on its June 1919 return and has been seen at every apparition since. Close approaches to Jupiter in 1938 and 1943 decreased the perihelion distance and orbital period. 22P/Kopff’s last perihelion passage was 18 March 2022. On 13 July 2028 it will pass 0.353 AU (52.8 million km) from Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">24P/Schaumasse</span> Periodic comet with 8 year orbit

Comet Schaumasse is a periodic comet discovered by Alexandre Schaumasse on 1 December 1911 as 12th magnitude. It next comes to perihelion on 8 January 2026 and should brighten to about magnitude 9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">30P/Reinmuth</span> Periodic comet with 7 year orbit

Comet 30P/Reinmuth, also known as Comet Reinmuth 1, is a periodic comet in the Solar System, first discovered by Karl Reinmuth on February 22, 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">103P/Hartley</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

Comet Hartley 2, designated as 103P/Hartley by the Minor Planet Center, is a small periodic comet with an orbital period of 6.48 years. It was discovered by Malcolm Hartley in 1986 at the Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. Its diameter is estimated to be 1.2 to 1.6 kilometres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">94P/Russell</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

94P/Russell 4 is a periodic comet in the Solar System. It fits the definition of an Encke-type comet with. It was discovered by Ken Rusell on photographic plates taken by M. Hawkins on March 7, 1984. In the discovery images, Russell estimated that the comet had an apparent magnitude of 13 and a noticeable tail of 5 arc minutes. In the year of discovery, the comet had come to perihelion in January 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">43P/Wolf–Harrington</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

43P/Wolf–Harrington is a periodic comet discovered on December 22, 1924, by Max Wolf in Heidelberg, Germany. In 2019 it passed within 0.065 AU of Jupiter, which lifted the perihelion point and increased the orbital period to 9 years.

82P/Gehrels is a periodic comet that was discovered on October 27, 1975, by Tom Gehrels at the Palomar Mountain Observatory in California having a faint nuclear brightness of magnitude 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">62P/Tsuchinshan</span> Periodic comet with 6 year orbit

62P/Tsuchinshan, also known as Tsuchinshan 1, is a periodic comet first discovered January 1, 1965 at the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanking. It last came to perihelion on 25 December 2023 at around apparent magnitude 8, and was then 0.53 AU (79 million km) from Earth and 110 degrees from the Sun.

75D/Kohoutek is a short-period comet discovered in February 1975, by Luboš Kohoutek. Even on the discovery plate the comet was only apparent magnitude 14. Assuming the comet has not disintegrated the 2020-2021 perihelion passage is only expected to peak around apparent magnitude 20.

<span class="nowrap">C/2015 ER<sub>61</sub></span> (PanSTARRS) Comet, inner Oort cloud object

C/2015 ER61 (PanSTARRS) is a comet and inner Oort cloud object. When classified as a minor planet, it had the fourth-largest aphelion of any known minor planet in the Solar System, after 2005 VX3, 2012 DR30, and 2013 BL76. It additionally had the most eccentric orbit of any known minor planet, with its distance from the Sun varying by about 99.9% during the course of its orbit, followed by 2005 VX3 with an eccentricity of 0.9973. On 30 January 2016, it was classified as a comet when it was 5.7 AU from the Sun. It comes close to Jupiter, and a close approach in the past threw it on the distant orbit it is on now.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">252P/LINEAR</span> Periodic comet and near-earth object

Comet 252P/LINEAR is a periodic comet and near-Earth object discovered by the LINEAR survey on April 7, 2000. The comet is a Jupiter family comet, meaning that it passes quite close to the orbit of Jupiter.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 10P/Tempel 2" (last observation: 2014-03-29; arc: 67.91 years). Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "10P/Tempel Orbit". Minor Planet Center . Retrieved 2023-08-06.
  3. ↑ 10P at Kazuo Kinoshita home page
  4. 1 2 3 Seiichi Yoshida (2008-01-27). "10P/Tempel 2". Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  5. ↑ Syuichi Nakano (2007-04-10). "10P/Tempel 2 (NK 1460)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  6. ↑ "Horizons Batch for 10P/Tempel 2 (90000213) on 2026-Aug-02" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons . Retrieved 2022-06-27. (JPL#K214/33 Soln.date: 2022-May-02)
  7. 1 2 Kronk, Gary W. "10P/Tempel 2". Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-24. (Cometography Home Page)
  8. 1 2 Ulivi, Paolo; Harland, David M (2007). Robotic Exploration of the Solar System Part I: The Golden Age 1957-1982. Springer. pp. 57–58. ISBN   9780387493268.
  9. ↑ Calder, Nigel (1992). Giotto to the Comets. London: Presswork. pp. 25–28. ISBN   0-9520115-0-6.
  10. 1 2 Hughes, David W (2006). "The Giotto-Halley 20th anniversary". Astronomy and Geophysics. 47 (1): 1.27 –1.28. doi:10.1111/j.1468-4004.2006.47127.x. ISSN   1366-8781.
Numbered comets
Previous
9P/Tempel 		10P/TempelNext
11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.