Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR is a periodic comet that takes 5.47 years to complete one orbit around the Sun. It was first discovered on November 27, 1869, by Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel and later independently by Lewis Swift on October 11, 1880. After 1908, the comet was considered lost due to unsuccessful attempts to observe it during successive perihelion passages. However, on December 7, 2001, the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program discovered a new object, which was later confirmed to be the same comet. With a perihelion distance of 1.6 astronomical units and an aphelion distance of 5.3 astronomical units, the comet's orbit takes it from beyond Jupiter's orbit to just inside Earth's orbit.
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Scorpius, at a distance of 624,287,581 kilometers from Earth.
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The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.
Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom .
- Right now it is placed in the South-West direction at an altitude of 3° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR is visible only through long exposure photography.
- Go to interactive sky chart
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Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR Position and Finder Charts
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
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Also check out Where is Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR Distance from Earth
The distance of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR from Earth is currently 624,287,581 kilometers, equivalent to 4.173105 Astronomical Units. Light takes 34 minutes and 42.3992 seconds to travel from Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR to Earth
Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR to Earth happens on Thu Nov 12 2026 at a distance of 0.401211 Astronomical Units, or 60,020,365 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR Brightness and Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR at epoch 01 November 2019 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458789.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.57742214 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 14.43558221° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.38970845 AU 207,897,426 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.18758094 AU 776,051,064 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.28864470 AU 491,974,245 km |
| Orbital period | period |
5.9639 years 2,178.3309 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2020-Nov-26 00:20:20 2,459,179.5141 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2026-Nov-13 08:16 2,461,357.8451 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 167.76737421058° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 238.98702345016° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 295.5446486951° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.16526415°/day |
Visualization of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
View Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Apr 18 | 15h 56m 35s | -21° 32’ 45” | 32.50 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 19 | 15h 56m 03s | -21° 30’ 21” | 32.49 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 20 | 15h 55m 32s | -21° 27’ 56” | 32.49 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 21 | 15h 54m 59s | -21° 25’ 26” | 32.48 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 22 | 15h 54m 25s | -21° 22’ 54” | 32.47 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 23 | 15h 53m 53s | -21° 20’ 20” | 32.47 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 24 | 15h 53m 17s | -21° 17’ 42” | 32.46 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 25 | 15h 52m 44s | -21° 15’ 02” | 32.46 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 26 | 15h 52m 08s | -21° 12’ 19” | 32.45 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 27 | 15h 51m 32s | -21° 09’ 33” | 32.44 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 28 | 15h 50m 56s | -21° 06’ 46” | 32.44 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 29 | 15h 50m 18s | -21° 03’ 56” | 32.43 | Scorpius |
| 2024 Apr 30 | 15h 49m 41s | -21° 01’ 02” | 32.43 | Scorpius |
| 2024 May 01 | 15h 49m 04s | -20° 58’ 08” | 32.42 | Scorpius |