Comet Encke, or Encke's Comet, is a periodic comet that completes an orbit of the Sun once every 3.3 years. Encke was first recorded by Pierre Méchain on 17 January 1786, but it was not recognized as a periodic comet until 1819 when its orbit was computed by Johann Franz Encke. Like Halley's Comet, it is unusual in its being named after the calculator of its orbit rather than its discoverer. Like most comets, it has a very low albedo, reflecting only 4.6% of the light its nucleus receives, although comets generate a large coma and tail that can make them much more visible during their perihelion. The diameter of the nucleus of Encke's Comet is 4.8 km.
32P/Comas Solà is a periodic comet with a current orbital period of 8.8 years.
Tempel 1 is a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel in 1867. It completes an orbit of the Sun every 5.6 years. Tempel 1 was the target of the Deep Impact space mission, which photographed a deliberate high-speed impact upon the comet in 2005. It was re-visited by the Stardust spacecraft on February 14, 2011, and came back to perihelion in August 2016. On 26 May 2024, it will make a modest approach of 0.55 AU to Jupiter which will lift the perihelion distance and 9P will next come to perihelion on 12 February 2028 when it will be 1.77 AU from the Sun.
Biela's Comet or Comet Biela was a periodic Jupiter-family comet first recorded in 1772 by Montaigne and Messier and finally identified as periodic in 1826 by Wilhelm von Biela. It was subsequently observed to split in two and has not been seen since 1852. As a result, it is currently considered to have been destroyed, although remnants have survived for some time as a meteor shower, the Andromedids which may show increased activity in 2023.
The Great Comet of 1882 formally designated C/1882 R1, 1882 II, and 1882b, was a comet which became very bright in September 1882. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a family of comets which pass within 1 R☉ of the Sun's photosphere at perihelion. The comet was bright enough to be visible next to the Sun in the daytime sky at its perihelion. The comet made its closest approach to Earth on 16 September 1882 at 0.99 AU and then came to perihelion the next day on 17 September.
Comet 4P/Faye is a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered in November 1843 by Hervé Faye at the Royal Observatory in Paris. Its most recent perihelia were on November 15, 2006; May 29, 2014; and September 8, 2021.
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. The next perihelion passage is 2 August 2026 when the comet will have a solar elongation of 164 degrees at approximately apparent magnitude 8. Closest approach to Earth will be one day later on 3 August 2026 at a distance of 0.414 AU (61.9 million km).
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.
14P/Wolf is a periodic 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.
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.
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.
D/1770 L1, popularly known as Lexell's Comet after its orbit computer Anders Johan Lexell, was a comet discovered by astronomer Charles Messier in June 1770. It is notable for having passed closer to Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of only 0.015 astronomical units, or six times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The comet has not been seen since 1770 and is considered a lost comet.
A lost comet is one which was not detected during its most recent perihelion passage. This generally happens when data is insufficient to reliably calculate the comet's location or if the solar elongation is unfavorable near perihelion passage. The D/ designation is used for a periodic comet that no longer exists or is deemed to have disappeared.
Comet Arend or 50P/Arend is a periodic comet in the Solar System which was discovered on October 4, 1951. It was discovered by astronomer Sylvain Julien Victor Arend at the Royal Observatory of Belgium located in the municipality of Uccle. The comet was illustrated at approximately a magnitude of 14 and also exhibited a nucleus within a coma 14 arc seconds across. From its discovery, the comet has had 7 perihelions with its last return of Earth recorded on November 1, 2007. The comet's next perihelion will be in the year 2024.
The Great Southern Comet of 1887, or C/1887 B1 using its International Astronomical Union (IAU) designation, was a bright comet seen from the Southern Hemisphere during January 1887. Later calculations indicated it to be part of the Kreutz Sungrazing group. It came to perihelion on 11 January 1877 at a distance of 0.00483 AU (723 thousand km) with a velocity of 606.1 km/s. Since the Sun has a radius of 696000 km, the comet passed about 27000 km from the surface of the Sun.
Comet Swift–Tuttle is a large periodic comet with a 1995 (osculating) orbital period of 133 years that is in a 1:11 orbital resonance with Jupiter. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet, which has an orbital period between 20 and 200 years. The comet was independently discovered by Lewis Swift on July 16, 1862 and by Horace Parnell Tuttle on July 19, 1862.
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.
104P/Kowal, also known as Kowal 2, is a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered by Charles T. Kowal in 1979. The orbit was confirmed after new sightings in 1991 and 1998.
226P/Pigott–LINEAR–Kowalski is a Jupiter family periodic comet with an orbital period of 7.3 years. It was discovered by Edward Pigott on 19 November 1783, but was subsequently lost, until it was recovered on 5 January 2003 by Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR). It will next come to perihelion on 27 December 2023 at about apparent magnitude 15.
