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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:01  ☀️ Transit: 12:06  🌅 Sunset: 18:11

Comet 10P/Tempel 2

Comet 10P/Tempel 2 is currently in the constellation of Gemini. The current Right Ascension of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 is 07h 00m 12s and the Declination is +22° 23’ 07” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 is 20.81 (JPL).

07h 00m 12s
+22° 23’ 07”
Gemini
20.81

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 67.6°
Max altitude: 60.9°
Azimuth: 292.4°
  • 10P/Tempel 2 is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Right now it is placed in the South-East direction at an altitude of 51° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 10P/Tempel 2 is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Available Resources

Comet 10P/Tempel 2 Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 10P/Tempel 2 finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.

Map showing Comet 10P/Tempel 2 in Gemini on March, 21 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 10P/Tempel 2 in Gemini on March, 21 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
 = visible to the naked eye
 = binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 10P/Tempel 2 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

10P/Tempel 2
RA: 07h 00m 12s
Dec: +22° 23’ 07”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 10P/Tempel 2
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 10P/Tempel 2?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 10P/Tempel 2 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 10P/Tempel 2 Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 from Earth is currently 619,989,198 kilometers, equivalent to 4.144372 Astronomical Units. Light takes 34 minutes and 28.0614 seconds to travel from Comet 10P/Tempel 2 and arrive to us.

619,989,198
4.144372
34 minutes and 28.0614 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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 10P/Tempel 2 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 to Earth happens on Tue Aug 4 2026 at a distance of 0.414485 Astronomical Units, or 62,006,140 kilometers:

Tue Aug 4 2026
62,006,140
0.414485

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet 10P/Tempel 2 Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 is 20.81.

20.81
-
-

The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 10P/Tempel 2, 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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 as a function of time

Comet 10P/Tempel 2 Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 at epoch 23 February 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456347.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.53633842
Orbit inclination i 12.02667997°
Perihelion distance q 1.42108308 AU
212,591,004 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.70874586 AU
704,418,355 km
Semi-major axis a 3.06491447 AU
458,504,680 km
Orbital period period 5.3658 years
1,959.8641 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2010-Jul-04 09:41:17
2,455,381.9037 JD
Next perihelion transit 2015-Nov-15 06:25
2,457,341.7678 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 195.55075365048°
Longitude of the ascending node node 117.8021486°
Mean anomaly M 177.36672218522°
Mean motion n 0.18368620°/day

Visualization of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 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!

Orbit Diagram of Comet 10P/Tempel 2
View Comet 10P/Tempel 2 in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 10P/Tempel 2 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 10P/Tempel 2 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 14 06h 59m 56s +22° 15’ 06” 20.73 Gemini
2023 Mar 15 06h 59m 54s +22° 16’ 15” 20.74 Gemini
2023 Mar 16 06h 59m 54s +22° 17’ 23” 20.75 Gemini
2023 Mar 17 06h 59m 54s +22° 18’ 29” 20.76 Gemini
2023 Mar 18 06h 59m 57s +22° 19’ 32” 20.77 Gemini
2023 Mar 19 07h 00m 00s +22° 20’ 33” 20.78 Gemini
2023 Mar 20 07h 00m 03s +22° 21’ 32” 20.79 Gemini
2023 Mar 21 07h 00m 07s +22° 22’ 30” 20.80 Gemini
2023 Mar 22 07h 00m 14s +22° 23’ 25” 20.81 Gemini
2023 Mar 23 07h 00m 20s +22° 24’ 19” 20.82 Gemini
2023 Mar 24 07h 00m 28s +22° 25’ 09” 20.83 Gemini
2023 Mar 25 07h 00m 37s +22° 25’ 59” 20.84 Gemini
2023 Mar 26 07h 00m 47s +22° 26’ 48” 20.85 Gemini
2023 Mar 27 07h 00m 56s +22° 27’ 33” 20.86 Gemini