Tempel 1

Also known as 9P/Tempel, Comet Tempel 1, 9P/Tempel 1, 9P

short-period comet

Key facts

Discovered by: Wilhelm Tempel
Discovery date: 3 April 1867
Mpc designation: P/1867 G1, P/1873 G1 P/1967 L1, P/1972 A1
Pronunciation: / ˈ t ɛ m p əl /
Alternative designations: Tempel 1 1867 II, 1873 I, 1879 III 1966 VII, 1972 V, 1978 II 1983 XI, 1989 I, 1994 XIX 1873a, 1879b, 1972a 1977i, 1982j, 1989 I 1987e1, 1993c
Epoch: 25 February 2023 ( JD 2460000.5)
Aphelion: 4.757 AU
Perihelion: 1.545 AU, (1.77 AU after 2024 Jupiter approach)
Semi major axis: 3.151 AU
Orbital period: 5.59 years
Inclination: 10.474°
Longitude of ascending node: 68.64°
Argument of periapsis: 179.54°
Last perihelion: 4 March 2022
Next perihelion: 12 February 2028
Earth moid: 0.52 AU
Dimensions: 7.6 km × 4.9 km (4.7 mi × 3.0 mi)
Mass: 7.2 × 10 to 7.9 × 10 kg

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Area: 108
Diameter: 6.0
Radius: 2.83
Mass: 58
Orbital period: 2038.454236499046
Image: PIA02142 Tempel 1 bottom sharped.jpg
Height: 4.9
Width: 7.6

Show 18 more facts

Commons category: Comet Tempel 1
time of discovery or invention: 1867-04-03
albedo: 0.05
apparent magnitude: 9.5
surface gravity: 0.034
volume as quantity: 95.2
rotation period: 40.7
provisional designation: 1873 I
absolute magnitude: 12.9
time of periapsis: 2457603.065271417
orbital eccentricity: 0.5097343751339731
semi-major axis of an orbit: 3.146311319263569
periapsis: 1.542528284961807
apoapsis: 4.750094353565331
orbital inclination: 10.4733081293036
longitude of ascending node: 68.75606981882036
argument of periapsis: 179.1940873048903
mean anomaly: 332.5262024677278

Sources (4)

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Article

Tempel 1 (official designation: 9P/Tempel) is a 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 14 February 2011, and came back to perihelion in August 2016. On 26 May 2024, it made a modest approach to Jupiter at a distance of 0.55 AU (82 million km), which lifted the perihelion distance. 9P will next come to perihelion on 12 February 2028 when it will be 1.77 AU (265 million km) from the Sun.

Discovery and orbital history