Comet Swift–Tuttle
Periodic comet and parent of the Perseid meteors / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Comet Swift–Tuttle (formally designated 109P/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.[4] The comet was independently discovered by Lewis Swift on July 16, 1862 and by Horace Parnell Tuttle on July 19, 1862.
Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Lewis Swift Horace Parnell Tuttle |
Discovery date | July 16, 1862 |
Designations | |
1737 N1; 1737 II; 1862 O1; 1862 III; 1992 S2; 1992 XXVIII | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch | October 10, 1995 (JD 2450000.5) |
Aphelion | 51.225 AU |
Perihelion | 0.9595 AU |
Semi-major axis | 26.092 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.9632 |
Orbital period | 133.28 yr 133y 7m (perihelion to perihelion) |
Max. orbital speed | 42.6 km/s (26.5 mi/s)[lower-alpha 1] |
Min. orbital speed | 0.8 km/s (0.50 mi/s) (2059-Dec-12) |
Inclination | 113.45° |
Last perihelion | December 12, 1992[1] |
Next perihelion | July 12, 2126[2][3] |
Earth MOID | 0.0009 AU (130,000 km; 84,000 mi) |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 26 km (16 mi)[4] |
Orbital period at different passages[1] | |||||||
Perihelion date | Orbital period (years) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2392-09-16 | 132.7 | ||||||
2261-08-10 | 134.6 | ||||||
2126-07-12 | 136.2 | ||||||
1992-12-12 | 135.0 | ||||||
1862-08-23 | 131.7 | ||||||
1737-06-15 | 127.8 | ||||||
1610-02-06 | 130.5 | ||||||
1479-10-18 | 133.4 | ||||||
1348-05-02 | 135.0 |
Its nucleus is 26 km (16 mi) in diameter.[4] Swift–Tuttle is the parent body of the Perseid meteor shower, perhaps the best known shower and among the most reliable in performance.[5]
The comet made a return appearance in 1992, when it was rediscovered by Japanese astronomer Tsuruhiko Kiuchi and became visible with binoculars.[6] It was last observed in April 1995 when it was 8.6 AU (1.3 billion km) from the Sun.[2] In 2126, it will be a bright naked-eye comet reaching an apparent magnitude of about 0.7.[7]