55P/Tempel–Tuttle
Comet Tempel–Tuttle photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope on 9 January 1998 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Wilhelm Tempel Horace Parnell Tuttle |
| Discovery date | 19 December 1865 |
| Designations | |
| |
| 1699 II, 1866 I, 1965 IV | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 25 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5) |
| Observation arc | 631.69 years |
| Earliest precovery date | 25 October 1366 |
| Number of observations | 471 |
| Aphelion | 19.732 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.975 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 10.354 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.90587 |
| Orbital period | 33.318 years |
| Inclination | 162.48° |
| 235.41° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 172.45° |
| Mean anomaly | 271.09° |
| Last perihelion | 28 February 1998 |
| Next perihelion | 20 May 2031 |
| TJupiter | –0.637 |
| Earth MOID | 0.008 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 1.8 ± 0.2 km (1.12 ± 0.12 mi) |
| 14.79–15.31 hours | |
| |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 10.0 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 16.0 |
55P/Tempel–Tuttle (commonly known as Comet 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.