10P/Tempel
Sign in to saveAlso known as Tempel 2, Comet Tempel 2, 10P/Tempel 2, 10P
10P/Tempel, also known as Tempel 2, is a Jupiter-family comet with a 5.36-year orbit around the Sun. It was discovered on 4 July 1873 by Wilhelm Tempel. At the perihelion passage on 2 August 2026 the solar elongation is calculated at 164 degrees, with apparent magnitude approximately 8, with closest approach to Earth on 3 August 2026 at a distance of .
Key facts
- Comet.name
- 10P/Tempel
- Comet.image
- Comet Tempel 2 by Lick Observatory, 1946.jpg
- Comet.caption
- Comet Tempel 2 photographed by H. M. Jeffers from the Lick Observatory in 1946
- Comet.discoverer
- Wilhelm Tempel
- Comet.discovery_date
- 4 July 1873
- Comet.mpc_name
- P/1873 N1, P/1878 O1
- Comet.epoch
- 5 May 2025 (JD 2460800.5)
- Comet.observation_arc
- 130.78 years
- Comet.obs
- 5,700
- Comet.perihelion
- 1.417 AU
- Comet.aphelion
- 4.710 AU
- Comet.semimajor
- 3.064 AU
- Comet.eccentricity
- 0.53738
- Comet.period
- 5.362 years
- Comet.inclination
- 12.027°
- Comet.asc_node
- 117.80°
- Comet.arg_peri
- 195.50°
- Comet.mean
- 276.53°
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 10.6
- Orbital period
- 1959.843377631463
- Image
- Comet Tempel 2 by Lick Observatory, 1946.jpg
Show 15 more facts
- Commons category
- Comet Tempel 2
- time of discovery or invention
- 1873-07-03
- provisional designation
- 1873 II
- absolute magnitude
- 14.3
- albedo
- 0.022
- rotation period
- 8.93
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.5363488626997135
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 3.064892826046107
- periapsis
- 1.421041044499767
- apoapsis
- 4.708744607592448
- orbital inclination
- 12.02678124671453
- longitude of ascending node
- 117.8022770765217
- argument of periapsis
- 195.5491530607799
- mean anomaly
- 179.7587485886842
- time of periapsis
- 2455381.891686131
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Physical characteristics
- Proposed exploration
- References
- External links
10P/Tempel, also known as Tempel 2, is a Jupiter-family comet with a 5.36-year orbit around the Sun. It was discovered on 4 July 1873 by Wilhelm Tempel. At the perihelion passage on 2 August 2026 the solar elongation is calculated at 164 degrees, with apparent magnitude approximately 8, with closest approach to Earth on 3 August 2026 at a distance of .
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; font-size: 0.9em;" |+10P/Tempel closest Earth approach on 2026-Aug-03 ! Date & time ofclosest approach ! Earth distance(AU) ! Sun distance(AU) ! Velocitywrt Earth(km/s) ! Velocitywrt Sun(km/s) ! Uncertaintyregion(3-sigma) ! Reference |- | 2026-Aug-03 20:56 || || || 6.5 || 31.0 || ± 200 km || Horizons |}