Comet Swift-Tuttle
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by |
Lewis Swift Horace Parnell Tuttle |
| Discovery date | July 16, 1862 |
| Alternative designations |
1737 N1; 1737 II; 1862 O1; 1862 III; 1992 S2; 1992 XXVIII |
| Orbital characteristics A | |
| 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 |
| Inclination | 113.45° |
| Earth MOID | 0.0009 AU (130,000 km) |
| Dimensions | 26 km |
| Last perihelion | December 11, 1992 |
| Next perihelion | July 12, 2126 |
Comet Swift–Tuttle (formally designated 109P/Swift–Tuttle) is a periodic comet with a current (osculating) orbital period of 133 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with a period between 20 and 200 years. It was independently discovered by Lewis Swift on July 16, 1862 and by Horace Parnell Tuttle on July 19, 1862. It has a well determined orbit and has a comet nucleus 26 km in diameter.
Chinese records indicate that, in 188, the comet reached apparent magnitude 0.1. Observation was also recorded in 69 BC, and it was probably visible to the naked eye in 322 BC. In the discovery year of 1862, the comet was as bright as Polaris. The comet made a return appearance in 1992, when it was rediscovered by Japanese astronomer Tsuruhiko Kiuchi and became visible with binoculars. In 2126 it will be a bright naked-eye comet reaching about apparent magnitude 0.7.
After the 1862 observations it was thought that the comet would return between 1979 and 1983, but it didn't show up. However, it had been suggested in 1902 that this was the same comet as that observed by Ignatius Kegler on July 3, 1737, and on this basis Brian Marsden calculated that it would return only in 1992, which in fact it did.
It is the parent body of the Perseid meteor shower, perhaps the best known shower and among the most reliable in performance.
An unusual aspect of its orbit is that it is captured into a 1:11 orbital resonance with Jupiter; it completes one orbit for every 11 of Jupiter. In principle this would mean that its proper long-term average period would be 130.48 years. However, in actual fact, it entered this resonance only about 1000 years ago, and will probably exit the resonance in several thousand years.
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