10P/Tempel

Jupiter-family comet Tempel 2 other comets of the same name Comet Tempel (disambiguation)Comet Tempel July 2025 10P/Tempel Comet 10 P.png Comet 10P/Tempel and the trail of dust that accumulates in its orbit. Photo captured on 11 July 2026. Wilhelm Tempel 4 July 1873 P/1873 N1, P/1878 O1 Tempel 2nasa-pds 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 jpldata MPC 9 June 2026 (JD 2461200.5) 153.14 yearsobs_arc 7,784 1.418 AU 4.71 AU 3.06 AU 0.5374 5.37 years 12.027° 117.80° 195.47° 350.06° 2.965 0.407 AU e6km unit 0.620 AU e6km unit jpldata 10.6 km miLamy_2004 8.948 0.001 hoursSchleicher_2013 (V–R) 0.561 0.04Meech_2004 (B–V) 0.80 0.02Lamy_2009 (R–I) 0.52 0.03Lamy_2009 0.54 g/cm3Sekanina_1991 0.022A'Hearn_1989 14.6 9(2026-07-11)cobs 2 August 2026Horizons2026 11 December 2031Horizons2031 10P/Tempel, also known as Tempel 2, is a large Jupiter-family comet roughly 10 km in diameter with a 5.4 year orbit around the Sun. It was discovered on 4 July 1873 by Wilhelm Tempel.cometography 2026 As of late August 2026, the comet is around apparent magnitude 9 with a declination of –33.Van_Buitenen The orbital dust trail created from particles ejected by the nucleus over hundreds of years is visible in images of the comet. At perihelion passage on 2 August 2026 the solar elongation was 164 degrees at a magnitude of approximately 8–9 with a declination of –24.Yoshida Van_BuitenenAntares The closest approach to Earth was the next day on 3 August 2026 at a distance of 0.414 AU e6km unit.Van_BuitenenMOID169P The comet got into the reach of most binoculars. +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 0.414 AU e6km e6mi unit 1.42 AU e6km e6mi unit 6.5 31.0 ± 34 km Horizons Physical characteristics thumb|left|Comet Tempel 2 photographed by H. M. Jeffers from the Lick Observatory in 1946Whipple_1981 The comet nucleus is estimated to be roughly the size of Halley's Comet at 10.6 km mi in diameter with a low albedo of 0.022.A'Hearn_1989 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. Photometry during four apparitions between 1983 and 2011 shows that cometary activity increases sharply about three months before perihelion and after perihelion declines steadily and slowly.Knight_2012 During the 2010 apparition the comet brightened to about apparent magnitude 8.Yoshida The most favorable apparition of 10P/Tempel 2 was in 1925 when it came within 0.35 AU e6km e6mi unit of Earth with an apparent magnitude of 6.5.cometography Van_Biesbroeck_1926 Infrared spectroscopy conducted in July 2010 revealed the presence of CH3OH, C2H6, NH3 and HCN in trace amounts within its coma, with their peak intensities suggesting a possible existence of a distributed source that was released from the nucleus as sublimed icy grains.Paganini_2012 thumb|left|Comet Tempel 2 imaged by George van Biesbroeck from the Yerkes Observatory on 23 July 1925.Van_Biesbroeck_1926 Observations by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite in 1983 showed that the comet has a dust trail. At that time it was the most prominent of the observed dust trails and extended for over 48 degrees in the sky while it was narrow, less than 4 arcminutes thick.Sykes_1986 The particles that comprise it have a diameter over one millemeter and were ejected from the comet over a period of hundreds of years with velocities of several meters per second with respect to the comet. The particles in front of the comet have a diamater of at least 6 mm.Sykes_1990 Photometry of the comet in 2010–2011 indicated that the nucleus was rotating once every 8.950 0.002 hours.Knight_2012 That rotational period was higher than that calculated in 1999, when it was 8.941 0.002 hours, which in turn was higher than that in 1988, indicating that the nuclear rotation rate was slowing due to asymmetric outgassing. The comet features an almost linear jet in CN and red images by the Lowell Observatory whose appearance changes only slightly during the rotation of the comet, originating from a small region near the pole of the comet.Knight_2012 Proposed exploration The Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposed a flyby of the comet with a flight spare of Mariner 4.Ulivi_2007 The probe was instead used for a Venus flyby as Mariner 5.Ulivi_2007 It was the original target of the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) mission before it was switched to 22P/Kopff due to developmental delays,Neugebauer_1987 until its eventual cancellation in 1992.Cole_1992 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.Calder_1992 The plan was to use Solar electric propulsion to get the craft to orbit the comet.Hughes_2006 The program was cancelled in November 1979.Hughes_2006 Notes "169P" The 5-km in diameter short period comet 169P/NEAT passed 0.167 AU e6km unit from Earth on 11 August 2026. The 1-km in diameter short period comet 11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR will pass 0.401 AU e6km unit from Earth on 11 November 2026. "Antares" For comparison, the star Antares has a southern declination of −26. "MOID" The 2026 Earth approach of 0.414 AU e6km unit was close to the Earth–Minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of 0.407 AU e6km unit. "obs_arc" Observation arc from the Minor Planet Center database only covered dates from 5 August 1894 until 21 August 2026 (132.05 years). This figure included its entire arc up to 4 July 1873. References M. F. A'Hearn H. Campins D. G. Schleicher R. L. Millis The Nucleus of Comet P/Tempel 2 The Astrophysical Journal 1989 347 1155–1166 1989ApJ...347.1155A 0004-637X 10.1086/168204 free N. Calder Giotto to the Comets Presswork 1992 25–28 0-9520115-0-6 S. Cole Bush cancels CRAF, closes out Magellan Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 1992 73 6 65-70 1992EOSTr..73Q..66C 10.1029/91EO00058 G. W. Kronk 10P/Tempel 2 https://cometography.com/pcomets/010p.html Cometography.com 2010-02-24 D. W. Hughes The Giotto-Halley 20th anniversary Astronomy and Geophysics 2006 47 1 1.27–1.28 2006A&G....47a..27H 122044809 1366-8781 10.1111/j.1468-4004.2006.47127.x 10P/Tempel 2 – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=10P ssd.jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion Laboratory 2010-02-24 2020-11-29 https://web.archive.org/web/20201129140010/https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=10P;cad=1#cad live M. M. Knight D. G. Schleicher T. L. Farnham E. W. Schwieterman S. R. Christensen A Quarter-Century of Observations of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 at Lowell Observatory: Continued Spin-Down, Coma Morphology, Production Rates, and Numerical Modeling The Astronomical Journal 2012 144 5 153 1210.1228 10.1088/0004-6256/144/5/153 free P. L. Lamy I. Toth Y. R. Fernández H. A. Weaver Comets II The Sizes, Shapes, Albedos, and Colors of Cometary Nuclei https://physics.ucf.edu/~yfernandez/papers/comets2chapter/comets2reprint.pdf 2004 223–264 University of Arizona Press 10.2307/j.ctv1v7zdq5.22 j.ctv1v7zdq5.22 978-0-8165-2450-1 9 October 2022 15 August 2025 https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://physics.ucf.edu/~yfernandez/papers/comets2chapter/comets2reprint.pdf dead P. L. Lamy I. Toth H. A. Weaver M. F. A'Hearn L. Jorda Properties of the nuclei and comae of 13 ecliptic comets from Hubble Space Telescope snapshot observations https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2009/47/aa11462-08.pdf Astronomy & Astrophysics 2009 508 2 1045–1056 2009A&A...508.1045L 125249770 10.1051/0004-6361/200811462 free K. J. Meech O. R. Hainaut B. G. Marsden Comet nucleus size distributions from HST and Keck telescopes Icarus 2004 170 2 463–491 2004Icar..170..463M 10.1016/j.icarus.2004.03.014 10P/Tempel Orbit http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=10P Minor Planet Center 2023-08-06 Periodic Comet Names and Designations https://pds-smallbodies.astro.umd.edu/data_sb/resources/periodic_comets.shtml Planetary Data System: Small Body Node NASA 2026-10-03 M. Neugebauer R. F. Draper The Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby mission Advances in Space Research 1987 7 12 201–204 1987AdSpR...7l.201N 10.1016/0273-1177(87)90218-3 L. Paganini M. J. Mumma B. P. Bonev G. L. Villanueva M. A. DiSanti J. V. Keane K. J. Meech 4 The formation heritage of Jupiter Family Comet 10P/Tempel 2 as revealed by infrared spectroscopy Icarus 218 1 644–653 2012 2012Icar..218..644P 1201.5166 106398196 10.1016/j.icarus.2012.01.004 32675835 7365286 D. G. Schleicher M. M. Knight S. E. Levine The Nucleus of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 in 2013 and Consequences Regarding its Rotational State: Early Science from the Discovery Channel Telescope The Astronomical Journal 2013 146 5 137–145 2013AJ....146..137S 1309.2944 55337675 10.1088/0004-6256/146/5/137 free Z. Sekanina Comprehensive Model for the Nucleus of Periodic Comet Tempel 2 and its Activity The Astronomical Journal 1991 102 1 350–389 1991AJ....102..350S 10.1086/115881 free M. V. Sykes L. A. Lebofsky D. M. Hunten F. Low The Discovery of Dust Trails in the Orbits of Periodic Comets Science 1986 232 4754 1115–1117 10.1126/science.232.4754.1115 M. V. Sykes D. J. Lien R. G. Walker The Tempel 2 Dust Trail Icarus 1990 86 1 236–247 10.1016/0019-1035(90)90212-R P. Ulivi D. M. Harland Robotic Exploration of the Solar System Part I: The Golden Age 1957–1982 https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi1mCYJWBwAC&pg=PA57 Springer 2007 57–58 978-0-387-49326-8 G. van Biesbroeck On the Appearance of the Comets in 1925 from Observations at the Yerkes Observatory Popular Astronomy 1926 34 224–228 1926PA.....34..224V F. L. Whipple On Observing Comets for Nuclear Rotation https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19820006142/downloads/19820006142.pdf Modern Observational Techniques for Comets Conference Proceedings 1981 S. Yoshida 10P/Tempel 2 http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0010P/index.html www.aerith.net 2008-01-27 2010-02-24 Horizons Batch for 10P/Tempel 2 (90000213) on 2026-Aug-02 JPL Horizons Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%27DES%3D10P%3BCAP%27&START_TIME=%272026-Aug-01%27&STOP_TIME=%272026-Aug-04%27&STEP_SIZE=%271%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27 https://web.archive.org/web/20220627102720/https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%2790000213%27&START_TIME=%272026-Aug-01%27&STOP_TIME=%272026-Aug-04%27&STEP_SIZE=%271%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27 2022-06-27 live 2022-06-27 (JPL#K214/33 Soln.date: 2022-May-02) Horizons Batch for 10P/Tempel 2 (90000214) on 2031-Dec-11 JPL Horizons Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%27DES%3D10P%3BCAP%27&START_TIME=%272031-Dec-10%27&STOP_TIME=%272031-Dec-13%27&STEP_SIZE=%273%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27 2026-08-04 (JPL#K265/43 Soln.date: 2026-Jul-28) COBS Observation list: 10P https://www.cobs.si/obs_list?id=53 Crni Vrh Observatory 2026-07-13 Comet 10P/Tempel 2 Lightcurve G. van Buitenen 10P/Tempel https://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/comet/10 astro.vanbuitenen.nl 2026-04-12 External links 1000094 10P 10P/Tempel at the Minor Planet Center database 10P/Tempel at Seiichi Yoshida's website 10P/Tempel at Gideon van Buitenen's website 10P/Tempel (2010) (astrosurf) 10P/Tempel mentioned in the June 2026 Comet Chasing Youtube channel Astronomy Pictures of the Day (APOD) 17 July 2026 The Dust Trail of Comet Tempel 2 8 August 2026 A Messier Moment for Tempel 2 9P/Tempel 11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR Category:Periodic comets 0010 010P 010P 010P 18730704 Category:Discoveries by Wilhelm Tempel