Comet 9P/Tempel
Comet 9P/Tempel (also known as comet Tempel 1) was discovered by Ernst Tempel on April 3, 1867. It has an orbital period of 5.6 years and travels on a relatively highly elliptical path around the Sun, with a perihelion distance of 1.5 astronomical units (AU) and an aphelion distance of 4.8 AU. The comet is known for its famous encounter with NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft in 2005, during which a projectile was launched to impact the surface of the comet, creating a crater and ejecting debris. The event provided scientists with valuable data about the composition and structure of comets, as well as their potential as carriers of water and organic molecules.
Comet 9P/Tempel is currently in the constellation of Cetus.
The current Right Ascension of Comet 9P/Tempel is 02h 09m 33s and the Declination is +06° 49’ 15” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom ). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 9P/Tempel is 21.35 (JPL).
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 9P/Tempel from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- 9P/Tempel is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom .
- Right now it is placed in the South-South-West direction at an altitude of 43° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 9P/Tempel is visible only through long exposure photography.
- Go to interactive sky chart
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Comet 9P/Tempel Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet 9P/Tempel 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.
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
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Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 9P/Tempel is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Comet 9P/Tempel?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 9P/Tempel in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 9P/Tempel Distance from Earth
The distance of Comet 9P/Tempel from Earth is currently 522,078,904 kilometers, equivalent to 3.489882 Astronomical Units. Light takes 29 minutes and 1.4678 seconds to travel from Comet 9P/Tempel and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 9P/Tempel 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 9P/Tempel from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach of Comet 9P/Tempel to Earth
Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 9P/Tempel to Earth happens on Sat Jun 16 2040 at a distance of 0.946206 Astronomical Units, or 141,550,459 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 9P/Tempel Brightness and Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 9P/Tempel, 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 9P/Tempel Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 9P/Tempel at epoch 04 January 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457392.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
Element | Symbol | Value |
---|---|---|
Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.50979998 |
Orbit inclination | i | 10.47325643° |
Perihelion distance | q | 1.54243138 AU 230,744,451 km |
Aphelion distance | Q |
4.75063805 AU 710,685,339 km |
Semi-major axis | a |
3.14653472 AU 470,714,895 km |
Orbital period | period |
5.5816 years 2,038.6713 days |
Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2016-Aug-02 13:26:37 2,457,603.0602 JD |
Next perihelion transit | 2022-Mar-03 05:33 2,459,641.7315 JD |
|
Argument of perihelion | peri | 179.18829807753° |
Longitude of the ascending node | node | 68.764569049953° |
Mean anomaly | M | 322.81810912754° |
Mean motion | n | 0.17658560°/day |
Visualization of Comet 9P/Tempel Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 9P/Tempel with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 9P/Tempel 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 9P/Tempel in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 9P/Tempel 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 9P/Tempel computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 9P/Tempel in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 Nov 29 | 02h 13m 37s | +06° 53’ 18” | 21.27 | Cetus |
2023 Nov 30 | 02h 13m 04s | +06° 52’ 31” | 21.28 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 01 | 02h 12m 30s | +06° 51’ 47” | 21.29 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 02 | 02h 11m 58s | +06° 51’ 10” | 21.30 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 03 | 02h 11m 27s | +06° 50’ 36” | 21.31 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 04 | 02h 10m 57s | +06° 50’ 08” | 21.32 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 05 | 02h 10m 27s | +06° 49’ 46” | 21.33 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 06 | 02h 09m 59s | +06° 49’ 28” | 21.34 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 07 | 02h 09m 30s | +06° 49’ 17” | 21.35 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 08 | 02h 09m 05s | +06° 49’ 10” | 21.36 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 09 | 02h 08m 39s | +06° 49’ 09” | 21.37 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 10 | 02h 08m 13s | +06° 49’ 13” | 21.38 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 11 | 02h 07m 50s | +06° 49’ 22” | 21.39 | Cetus |
2023 Dec 12 | 02h 07m 27s | +06° 49’ 36” | 21.41 | Cetus |