 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Horace Parnell Tuttle |
| Discovery date | January 5, 1858 |
| Designations | |
| 1790 II; 1858 I; 1871 III; 1885 IV; 1899 III; 1912 IV; 1926 IV; 1939 X; 1967 V; 1980 XIII; 1994 XV | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 2022-01-21[1] |
| Aphelion | 10.39 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.026 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 5.707 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.8202 |
| Orbital period | 13.6 yr 13y 7m 22d (perihelion to perihelion) |
| Inclination | 54.911° |
| Last perihelion | August 27, 2021[1][2] January 27, 2008 |
| Next perihelion | 2035-Apr-18[3] |
| Earth MOID | 0.095 AU (14.2 million km)[4] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 4.5 km contact binary[4] |
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).[4] Its last perihelion passage was 27 August 2021 when it had a solar elongation of 26 degrees at approximately apparent magnitude 9.[5] Two weeks later, on September 12, 2021, it was about 1.8 AU (270 million km) 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.[6]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
MPCwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Kinoshita, Kazuo (January 24, 2008). "8P/Tuttle". Comet Orbits.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Horizons2035was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
jpldatawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Yoshidawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Meteor Streams". NASA.gov. Retrieved July 28, 2014.