10P/Tempel

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Periodic comet

title: "10P/Tempel" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["periodic-comets", "numbered-comets", "comets-in-2015", "comets-in-2021", "comets-in-2026", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1873", "discoveries-by-wilhelm-tempel"] description: "Periodic comet" topic_path: "general/periodic-comets" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10P/Tempel" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Periodic comet ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox comet"]

Field	Value
name	10P/Tempel
image	Comet Tempel 2 by Lick Observatory, 1946.jpg
caption	Comet Tempel 2 photographed by H. M. Jeffers from the Lick Observatory in 1946
discoverer	Wilhelm Tempel
discovery_date	4 July 1873
mpc_name	P/1873 N1, P/1878 O1
designations
orbit_ref
epoch	5 May 2025 (JD 2460800.5)
observation_arc	130.78 years
obs	5,700
perihelion	1.417 AU
aphelion	4.710 AU
semimajor	3.064 AU
eccentricity	0.53738
period	5.362 years
inclination	12.027°
asc_node	117.80°
arg_peri	195.50°
mean	276.53°
tjup	2.965
Earth_moid	0.410 AU
Jupiter_moid	0.622 AU
mean_diameter	10.6 km
rotation	hours
spectral_type	(V–R)
albedo	0.022
M1	14.3
last_p	24 March 2021
next_p	2 August 2026
::

10P/Tempel, also known as Tempel 2, is a periodic Jupiter-family comet with a 5-year orbital period. It was discovered on 4 July 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 0.414 AU.

::data[format=table title="10P/Tempel closest Earth approach on 2026-Aug-03"] | Date & time of closest approach | Earth distance (AU) | Sun distance (AU) | Velocity wrt Earth (km/s) | Velocity wrt Sun (km/s) | Uncertainty region (3-sigma) | Reference | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 2026-Aug-03 20:56 | 0.414 AU | 1.42 AU | 6.5 | 31.0 | ± 200 km | Horizons | ::

Physical characteristics

The comet nucleus is estimated to be roughly the size of Halley's Comet at 10.6 km 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.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Comet_Tempel_II_1925.jpg" caption="Van_Biesbroeck_1926}}"] ::

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 0.35 AU of Earth with an apparent magnitude of 6.5.

Infrared spectroscopy conducted in July 2010 revealed the presence of , , and HCN in trace amounts within its coma, with their peak intensities suggesting a possible existence of a distributed source that was released from the nucleus as sublimed icy grains.

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.

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. The plan was to use Solar electric propulsion to get the craft to orbit the comet. The program was cancelled in November 1979.

References

| author1= N. Calder | title= Giotto to the Comets | publisher= Presswork | year= 1992 | pages= 25–28 | isbn= 0-9520115-0-6 }}

| author1= G. W. Kronk | title= 10P/Tempel 2 | url= https://cometography.com/pcomets/010p.html | website= Cometography.com | access-date= 24 February 2010 }}

| author1= D. W. Hughes | title= The Giotto-Halley 20th anniversary | journal= Astronomy and Geophysics | year= 2006 | volume= 47 | issue= 1 | pages= 1.27–1.28 | bibcode= 2006A&G....47a..27H | s2cid= 122044809 | issn= 1366-8781 | doi= 10.1111/j.1468-4004.2006.47127.x }}

| title= 10P/Tempel 2 – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup | url= https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=10P | website= ssd.jpl.nasa.gov | publisher= Jet Propulsion Laboratory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129140010/https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=10P;cad=1#cad |archive-date=2020-11-29 |url-status=live | access-date= 24 February 2010 }}

| author1= K. J. Meech | author2= O. R. Hainaut | author3= B. G. Marsden | title= Comet nucleus size distributions from HST and Keck telescopes | journal= Icarus | year= 2004 | volume= 170 | issue= 2 | pages= 463–491 | bibcode= 2004Icar..170..463M | doi= 10.1016/j.icarus.2004.03.014 }}

| title= 10P/Tempel Orbit | url= http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=10P | publisher= Minor Planet Center | access-date= 6 August 2023 }}

| author1= D. G. Schleicher | author2= M. M. Knight | author3= S. E. Levine | title= The Nucleus of Comet 10P/Tempel 2 in 2013 and Consequences Regarding its Rotational State: Early Science from the Discovery Channel Telescope | journal= The Astronomical Journal | year= 2013 | volume= 146 | issue= 5 | pages= 137–145 | bibcode= 2013AJ....146..137S | arxiv= 1309.2944 | s2cid= 55337675 | doi= 10.1088/0004-6256/146/5/137 | doi-access= free }}

| author1= P. Ulivi | author2= D. M. Harland | title= Robotic Exploration of the Solar System Part I: The Golden Age 1957–1982 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi1mCYJWBwAC&pg=PA57 | publisher=Springer | year= 2007 | pages= 57–58 | isbn= 978-0-387-49326-8 }}

| author1= G. van Biesbroeck | title= On the Appearance of the Comets in 1925 from Observations at the Yerkes Observatory | journal= Popular Astronomy | year= 1926 | volume= 34 | pages= 224–228 | bibcode= 1926PA.....34..224V }}

| author1= F. L. Whipple | title= On Observing Comets for Nuclear Rotation | url= https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19820006142/downloads/19820006142.pdf | conference= Modern Observational Techniques for Comets Conference Proceedings | year= 1981 }}

| author1= S. Yoshida | title= 10P/Tempel 2 | url= http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0010P/index.html | website= www.aerith.net | date= 27 January 2008 | access-date= 24 February 2010 }}

|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=%27DES%3D10P%3BCAP%27&START_TIME=%272026-Aug-01%27&STOP_TIME=%272026-Aug-04%27&STEP_SIZE=%271%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627102720/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 |archive-date=2022-06-27 |url-status=live |accessdate=2022-06-27}} (JPL#K214/33 Soln.date: 2022-May-02)

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