Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Comet Swift–Tuttle
open-in-new
<table><tbody><tr><td colspan="8">Orbital periodat different passages</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Perihelion/VaL6ow9w">Perihelion</a>date</th><th><a href="/facts/Orbital_period/94f56uh2">Orbitalperiod</a>(years)</th></tr><tr><td>2392-09-16</td><td>132.7</td></tr><tr><td>2261-08-10</td><td>134.6</td></tr><tr><td>2126-07-12</td><td>136.2</td></tr><tr><td>1992-12-12</td><td>135.0</td></tr><tr><td>1862-08-23</td><td>131.7</td></tr><tr><td>1737-06-15</td><td>127.8</td></tr><tr><td>1610-02-06</td><td>130.5</td></tr><tr><td>1479-10-18</td><td>133.4</td></tr><tr><td>1348-05-02</td><td>135.0</td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Comet Swift–Tuttle (formally designated 109P/Swift–Tuttle) is a large <a href="/facts/List_of_periodic_comets/35UuHPYc">periodic</a> <a href="/facts/Comet/w34utQCd">comet</a> with a 1995 (<a href="/facts/Osculating_orbit/hA7omegY">osculating</a>) <a href="/facts/Orbital_period/94f56uh2">orbital period</a> of 133 years that is in a 1:11 <a href="/facts/Orbital_resonance/eQLMfBWu">orbital resonance</a> with <a href="/facts/Jupiter/95m7XjMT">Jupiter</a>. It fits the classical definition of a <a href="/facts/List_of_comets_by_type/WNM4FSy7">Halley-type comet</a>, which has an <a href="/facts/Orbital_period/94f56uh2">orbital period</a> between 20 and 200 years. The comet was independently discovered by <a href="/facts/Lewis_Swift/RaWUr3C7">Lewis Swift</a> on 16 July 1862 and by <a href="/facts/Horace_Parnell_Tuttle/RxoRWR0P">Horace Parnell Tuttle</a> on 19 July 1862. </p><p>Its <a href="/facts/Comet_nucleus/dpJGJlqw">nucleus</a> is 26 km (16 mi) in diameter. Swift–Tuttle is the parent body of the <a href="/facts/Perseids/UelHsBqL">Perseid</a> <a href="/facts/Meteor_shower/ff47hYJA">meteor shower</a>, perhaps the best known shower and among the most reliable in performance. </p><p>The comet made a return appearance in 1992, when it was rediscovered by Japanese <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a> Tsuruhiko Kiuchi and became visible with binoculars. It was last observed in April 1995 when it was 8.6 <a href="/facts/Astronomical_unit/gjsbu5xU">AU</a> (1.3 <a href="/facts/1000000000_(number)/Ij1fl5Q7">billion</a> <a href="/facts/Kilometre/hdQp79QE">km</a>) from the Sun. In 2126, it will be a bright naked-eye comet reaching an <a href="/facts/Apparent_magnitude/7pCTF1Me">apparent magnitude</a> of about 0.7. </p>