55P/Tempel–Tuttle (commonly known as Comet Tempel–Tuttle) is a periodic

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

with an

orbital period The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting pla ...

of 33 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with a

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

of between 20 and 200 years. It was independently discovered by

Wilhelm Tempel Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel (4 December 1821 – 16 March 1889), normally known as Wilhelm Tempel, was a German astronomer who worked in Marseille until the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, then later moved to Italy. Tempel was ...

on December 19, 1865, and by

Horace Parnell Tuttle Horace Parnell Tuttle (March 17, 1837 – August 16, 1923) was an American astronomer, an American Civil War veteran and brother of astronomer Charles Wesley Tuttle (November 1, 1829 – July 17, 1881). Biography Early life H. P. Tuttle was born ...

on January 6, 1866. It is the parent body of the

Leonid Leonid (russian: Леонид ; uk, Леонід ; be, Леанід, Ljeaníd ) is a Slavic version of the given name Leonidas. The French version is Leonide. People with the name include: *Leonid Andreyev (1871–1919), Russian playwright a ...

meteor shower A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extr ...

. In 1699, it was observed by Gottfried KirchC&MS: 55P/Tempel-Tuttle
/ref> but was not recognized as a

periodic comet Periodic comets (also known as short-period comets) are comets with orbital periods of less than 200 years or that have been observed during more than a single perihelion passage (e.g. 153P/Ikeya–Zhang). "Periodic comet" is also sometimes us ...

until the discoveries by Tempel and Tuttle during the 1866

perihelion An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any elli ...

. In 1933, S. Kanda deduced that the comet of 1366 was Tempel–Tuttle, which was confirmed by Joachim Schubart in 1965. On 26 October 1366, the comet passed from Earth. The orbit of 55P/Tempel–Tuttle intersects that of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

nearly exactly, hence streams of material ejected from the comet during

passes do not have to spread out over time to encounter Earth. The comet currently has an Earth-

MOID Minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) is a measure used in astronomy to assess potential close approaches and collision risks between astronomical objects. It is defined as the distance between the closest points of the osculating orbits of ...

of . This coincidence means that streams from the comet at perihelion are still dense when they encounter Earth, resulting in the 33-year cycle of Leonid meteor storms. For example, in November 2009, the Earth passed through

meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...

s left behind mainly from the 1466 and 1533 orbit. In February, 2016, two bolides detected by the NASA All-Sky Fireball Network were calculated to have orbits consistent with those of 55P, although with a

node In general, a node is a localized swelling (a " knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics * Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph * Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, line ...

100 degrees less than 55P. The reason for this is yet to be determined. 55P/Tempel–Tuttle is estimated to have a

nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: * Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucl ...

of mass 1.2 kg and radius 1.8 km and a stream of mass 5 kg.

References

External links

Orbital simulation
from JPL (Java)
Horizons Ephemeris

Periodic comets Halley-type comets 0055 055P Meteor shower progenitors 18650119 {{comet-stub

See also

References

External links