10P/Tempel
{{Short description|Periodic comet with 5 year orbit}}
{{Infobox comet
| name=10P/Tempel
| image= Comet Tempel 2 by Lick Observatory, 1946.jpg
| caption = Comet Tempel 2 in 1946 from Lick Observatory
| discoverer=Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel
| discovery_date=July 4, 1873
| designations=1873 II; 1878 III; 1894 III;
1899 IV; 1904 III; 1915 I;
1920 II; 1925 IV; 1930 VII;
1946 III; 1951 VIII; 1957 II;
1962 VI; 1967 X; 1972 X;
1978 V; 1983 X; 1988 XIV;
1994 VII;
| epoch=2026-07-19
(JD 2461240.5)
| semimajor=3.065 AU
| perihelion=1.418 AU
| aphelion=4.71 AU
| eccentricity=0.5374
| period=5.37 yr
| inclination= 12.03°
| asc_node=117.8°
| arg_peri=195.5°
| Earth_moid={{Convert|0.41|AU|e6km|abbr=unit}}
| last_p=24 March 2021
14 November 2015
4 July 2010
}}
10P/Tempel, also known as Tempel 2, is a periodic Jupiter-family comet with a 5-year orbital period. It was discovered on July 4, 1873 by Wilhelm Tempel. At the perihelion passage on 2 August 2026 the solar elongation is calculated at 164 degrees, with apparent magnitude approximately 8, with closest approach to Earth on 3 August 2026 at a distance of {{Convert|0.414|AU|e6km|abbr=unit|lk=on}}.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; font-size: 0.9em;"
|+10P/Tempel closest Earth approach on 2026-Aug-03 ! Date & time of ! Earth distance ! Sun distance ! Velocity ! Velocity ! Uncertainty ! Reference | ||||||
| 2026-Aug-03 20:59 ± 1 min | {{Convert|0.414|AU|e6km e6mi LD|abbr=unit|lk=on}} | {{Convert|1.42|AU|e6km e6mi|abbr=unit}} | 6.5 | 31.0 | ± 204 km | [https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%27DES%3D10P%3BCAP%27&START_TIME=%272026-Aug-03%2020:59%27&STOP_TIME=%272026-Aug-04%27&STEP_SIZE=%271%20day%27&QUANTITIES=%2719,20,22,39%27 Horizons] |
The comet nucleus is estimated to be roughly the size of Halley's Comet at 10.6 kilometers in diameter with a low albedo of 0.022. The nucleus is dark because hydrocarbons on the surface have been converted to a dark, tar like substance by solar ultraviolet radiation. The nucleus is large enough that even near aphelion (furthest distance from the Sun which is near the orbit of Jupiter) the comet remains brighter than about magnitude 21.
During the 2010 apparition the comet brightened to about apparent magnitude 8. The most favorable apparition of 10P/Tempel 2 was in 1925 when it came within {{Convert|0.35|AU|e6km e6mi|abbr=unit|lk=on}} of Earth with an apparent magnitude of 6.5.
Proposed exploration
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposed a flyby of the comet with a flight spare of Mariner 4. The probe was instead used for a Venus flyby as Mariner 5.{{cite book |last1=Ulivi |first1=Paolo |last2=Harland |first2= David M |date=2007 |title=Robotic Exploration of the Solar System Part I: The Golden Age 1957-1982 |publisher=Springer |pages=57–58 |isbn=9780387493268 }}
10P/Tempel was to be the target of the NASA part of the International Comet Mission after transporting a European probe to a flyby of Halley's Comet.{{cite book |last=Calder |first=Nigel |title=Giotto to the Comets |publisher=Presswork |publication-place=London |date=1992 |isbn=0-9520115-0-6 |pages=25-28}} The plan was to use Solar electric propulsion to get the craft to orbit the comet. The program was cancelled in November 1979.{{cite journal | last=Hughes | first=David W | title=The Giotto-Halley 20th anniversary | journal=Astronomy and Geophysics | volume=47 | issue=1 | date=2006 | issn=1366-8781 | doi=10.1111/j.1468-4004.2006.47127.x | pages=1.27–1.28}}
References
{{Reflist|refs=
|date=2008-01-27
|title=10P/Tempel 2
|publisher=Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog
|author=Seiichi Yoshida
|url=http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0010P/index.html
|access-date=2010-02-24}}
|date=2007-04-10
|title=10P/Tempel 2 (NK 1460)
|publisher=OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections
|author=Syuichi Nakano
|url=http://www.oaa.gr.jp/~oaacs/nk/nk1460.htm
|access-date=2010-02-24}}
[http://jcometobs.web.fc2.com/pcmtn/0010p.htm 10P at Kazuo Kinoshita home page]
|title=Horizons Batch for 10P/Tempel 2 (90000213) on 2026-Aug-02
|publisher=JPL Horizons
|type=Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive
|url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%2790000213%27&START_TIME=%272026-Aug-01%27&STOP_TIME=%272026-Aug-04%27&STEP_SIZE=%271%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27
|accessdate=2022-06-27}} (JPL#K214/33 Soln.date: 2022-May-02)
|title=10P/Tempel Orbit
|url=http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=10P
|publisher=Minor Planet Center
|access-date=2023-08-06}}
|type=last observation: 2014-03-29; arc: 67.91 years
|title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 10P/Tempel 2
|url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=10P&view=OPC
|publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory
|access-date=2010-02-24}}
|first=Gary W |last=Kronk |author-link=Gary W. Kronk
|title=10P/Tempel 2
|url=http://cometography.com/pcomets/010p.html
|access-date=2010-02-24
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100222032737/http://cometography.com/pcomets/010p.html
|url-status=live
|archive-date= 22 February 2010}} ([http://cometography.com Cometography Home Page])
}}
External links
- {{JPL Small Body|id=1000094}}
- [https://minorplanetcenter.net/cgi-bin/returnprepeph.cgi?d=c&o=0010P Elements and Ephemeris for 10P/Tempel] – Minor Planet Center
- [http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0010P/index.html 10P/Tempel 2] / [http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0010P/2010.html 2010] – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net
- [http://astrosurf.com/obsdauban/pages/10P.html 10P/Tempel 2 (2010)] (astrosurf)
{{PeriodicComets Navigator|9P/Tempel|11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR}}
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Category:Discoveries by Wilhelm Tempel
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