 Infrared image of Comet T–S–L taken byNEOWISE on 4 January 2021. | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | |
| Discovery date |
|
| Designations | |
| |
| |
| Orbital characteristics[4][2] | |
| Epoch | 17 October 2024 (JD 2460600.5) |
| Observation arc | 154.75 years |
| Number of observations | 1,337 |
| Aphelion | 5.18 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.388 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3.284 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.57756 |
| Orbital period | 5.95 years |
| Inclination | 14.435° |
| 238.87° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 168.04° |
| Mean anomaly | 235.14° |
| Last perihelion | 26 November 2020[2] |
| Next perihelion | 9 November 2026[3] |
| TJupiter | 2.839 |
| EarthMOID | 0.403 AU |
| JupiterMOID | 0.326 AU |
| Physical characteristics[4] | |
Mean radius | 0.6 km (0.37 mi)[5] |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 15.2 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 18.6 |
11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR is aperiodic comet with a 5.95-year orbit around theSun.
In 1869, the comet'sperihelion was around 1.063 AU (159.0 million km) from the Sun.[6]Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel originally discovered the comet on 27 November 1869, from his observatory atMarseille. It was later observed byLewis Swift from theWarner Observatory on 11 October 1880, and he realised that it is the same comet as Tempel's.[7]
After 1908, the comet became an unobservablelost comet due to a series of four close flybys ofJupiter between 1911 and 1946[a] perturbing its orbit significantly enough that made subsequent apparitions of the comet unfavorable for observations in decades.[8] Nevertheless,Brian G. Marsden computed the resulting orbit based on the observations between 1891 and 1908, and predicted a favorable return in 1963, however the comet remained unobserved.[8] Despite this, additional predictions of the comet's favorable returns were later attempted by Marsden andZdenek Sekanina in 1971,[9] andShuichi Nakano in 1995.
On 7 December 2001, an object designated asP/2001 X3 was found by theLincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program.[10] Analysis of images taken between 10 September and 17 October 2001 later confirmed that P/2001 X3 was the recovery of the previously lost comet Tempel–Swift.[1]
The comet was not observed during the 2008 unfavorable apparition because theperihelion passage occurred when the comet was on the far side of the Sun.[11][2] The comet was observed during the 2014 and 2020 apparitions.[2] The comet will next come to perihelion on 9 November 2026,[3] then two days later on the 11th, make a closest approach to Earth of 0.4012 AU (60.02 million km).[4]
| Numbered comets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous 10P/Tempel | 11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR | Next 12P/Pons–Brooks |
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