8P/Tuttle
{{Short description|Periodic comet}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox comet
| name = 8P/Tuttle
| image = 07-1230 8PTuttle+M33 martinez vcastro IMG 1912.JPG
| caption = Tuttle's Comet and the Triangulum Galaxy photographed from Mount Laguna, California on December 30, 2007
| discoverer = Horace Parnell Tuttle
| discovery_date = January 5, 1858
| mpc_name = P/1790 A2; P/1858 A1
P/1871 T1
| designations = 1790 II; 1858 I; 1871 III;
1885 IV; 1899 III; 1912 IV;
1926 IV; 1939 X; 1967 V;
1980 XIII; 1994 XV
| orbit_ref = {{r|MPC|jpl1}}
| observation_arc = 14.09 years (5,150 days)
| obs = 316
| epoch = January 21, 2022 (JD 2459600.5)
| semimajor = 5.707 AU
| perihelion = 1.026 AU
| aphelion = 10.39 AU
| eccentricity = 0.82023
| period = 13.6 years
| inclination = 54.911°
| asc_node = 270.20°
| arg_peri = 207.49°
| mean = 10.573°
| tjup = 1.601
| Earth_moid = 0.095 AU
| Jupiter_moid = 0.738 AU
| physical_ref = {{r|jpl1|Knight_2023}}
| dimensions = {{cvt|4.5|km|mi}}
| rotation = 11.4 hours
| spectral_type = (V–R) {{=}} {{val|0.53|0.04}}
| M1 = 14.6
| M2 =
| last_p = August 27, 2021{{r|Kinoshita_2008}}
| next_p = April 18, 2035{{r|Horizons2035}}
}}
8P/Tuttle (also known as Tuttle's Comet or Comet Tuttle) is a periodic comet with a 13.6-year orbit. It fits the classical definition of a Jupiter-family comet with an orbital period of less than 20 years, but does not fit the modern definition of (2 < TJupiter< 3).{{r|jpl1}} Its last perihelion passage was 27 August 2021 when it had a solar elongation of 26 degrees at approximately apparent magnitude 9.{{r|Yoshida_2020}} Two weeks later, on September 12, 2021, it was about {{convert|1.8|AU|e6km|abbr=unit}} from Earth which is about as far from Earth as the comet can get when the comet is near perihelion.
Comet 8P/Tuttle is responsible for the Ursid meteor shower in late December.{{r|jpl2}}
2008 perihelion
Under dark skies, the comet was a naked-eye object. On December 30, 2007, it was in close conjunction with the Triangulum Galaxy. On January 1, 2008, it passed Earth at a distance of {{convert|0.25282|AU|e6km|abbr=unit}}.{{r|jpl1}} It was visible telescopically to Southern Hemisphere observers in the constellation Eridanus throughout February 2008.
Predictions that the 2007 Ursid meteor shower could have possibly been stronger than usual due to the return of the comet,{{r|Jenniskens_2007}} did not appear to materialize, as counts were in the range of normal distribution.
Contact binary
Radar observations of Comet Tuttle in January 2008 by the Arecibo Observatory show it to be a contact binary.{{r|Schilling_2008|Harmon_2008}} The comet nucleus is estimated at {{cvt|4.5|km|mi}} in diameter, using the equivalent diameter of a sphere having a volume equal to the sum of a {{cvt|3|x|4|km|mi}} sphere.{{r|jpl1}}
Additional images
File:Animation of 8P／Tuttle orbit.gif
File:2007-1203 8ptuttle fal martinez-vcastro IMG 1823.jpg|8P/Tuttle on December 3, 2007 from Mount Laguna, California
File:07-1230 8PTuttle+M33 martinez vcastro IMG 1913.JPG|8P/Tuttle about 1.2 degrees from M33 on December 30, 2007.
File:Comet-tuttle-20080202.jpg|8P/Tuttle on Feb 2, 2008 from the Red Sea coast of Egypt.
{{clear}}
References
{{Reflist|refs=
| author1= J. K. Harmon
| author2= M. C. Nolan
| author3= E. S. Howell
| author4= J. D. Giorgini
| title= Comet 8P/Tuttle: Arecibo Radar Observations of the First Bilobate Comet
| url= http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/acm2008/pdf/8025.pdf
| conference= 10th Asteroids, Comets, Meteors
| publisher= Lunar and Planetary Institute
| date= 13–18 July 2008
| location= Baltimore, Maryland }}
| title= Horizons Batch for 8P/Tuttle on 2035-Apr-18
| 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=%2790000179%27&START_TIME=%272035-Apr-10%27&STOP_TIME=%272035-Apr-25%27&STEP_SIZE=%273%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27
| accessdate= 12 September 2021 }}
(JPL K215/14 Soln.date: 2021-Sep-07)
| author1= P. Jenniskens
| author2= E. Lyytinen
| author3= M. Nissinen
| author4= I. Yrjölä
| author5= J. Vaubaillon
| title= Strong Ursid shower predicted for 2007 December 22
| url= http://ursid.seti.org/WGNUrsids.pdf
| journal= WGN, Journal of the International Meteor Organization
| year= 2007
| volume= 35
| issue= 6
| pages= 125–133
| bibcode= 2007JIMO...35..125J }}
| title= 8P/Tuttle – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup
| url= https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=8P
| website= ssd.jpl.nasa.gov
| publisher= Jet Propulsion Laboratory
| access-date= 25 February 2010 }}
| title= Meteor Streams
| url= http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?meteor_streams
| website= ssd.jpl.nasa.gov
| publisher= Jet Propulsion Laboratory
| access-date= 28 July 2014 }}
| author1=K. Kinoshita
| title= 8P/Tuttle
| url= http://jcometobs.web.fc2.com/pcmtn/0008p.htm
| work= Comet Orbits
| date= 24 January 2008 }}
| author1= M. M. Knight
| author2= R. Kokotanekova
| author3= N. H. Samarasinha
| title= Physical and Surface Properties of Comet Nuclei from Remote Observations
| year= 2023
| arxiv= 2304.09309
| class= astro-ph.EP }}
| title= 8P/Tuttle Orbit
| url= http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=8P
| publisher= Minor Planet Center
| access-date= 13 January 2021 }}
| author1= G. Schilling
| title= Comet Tuttle's Split Personality
| url= https://www.science.org/content/article/comet-tuttles-split-personality
| magazine= Science
| date= 14 October 2008
| access-date= 25 October 2008 }}
| author1= S. Yoshida
| title= 8P/Tuttle
| website= www.aerith.net
| date= 28 June 2020
| url= http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0008P/index.html
| access-date= 20 July 2020 }}
}}
External links
- {{JPL Small Body|id=1000099}}
- [http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0008P/index.html 8P/Tuttle] – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net
- [http://cometography.com/pcomets/008p.html 8P at Kronk's Cometography]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080101085809/http://bareket-astro.com/movies/comet/tuttle_8p.html 8P/Tuttle time sequence]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071110000825/http://starrymirror.com/comettuttlenov6.htm Comet Tuttle Seen To Be Returning]
- [http://gallery.canaryskies.com/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=2 Comet 8P/Tuttle. Canary Islands, Tenerife. 06.01.2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311142849/http://gallery.canaryskies.com/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=2 |date=March 11, 2016 }}
- [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?ID=c00008_0;orb=1;cov=0;log=0#orb NASA Orbital Diagram]
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