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Comet Swift–Tuttle

periodic comet and parent body of the Perseid meteor shower

Key facts

Discovered by: Lewis Swift , Horace Parnell Tuttle
Discovery date: 16–19 July 1862
Mpc designation: P/1737 N1; P/1862 O1, P/1992 S2
Alternative designations: 1737 II; 1862 III;, 1992 XXVIII
Epoch: 4 December 1995 ( JD 2448960.5)
Observation arc: 2,064 years
Earliest precovery date: 69 BC
Aphelion: 51.225 AU
Perihelion: 0.9595 AU
Semi major axis: 26.092 AU
Orbital period: 133.28 years
Max orbital speed: 42.6 km/s (26.5 mi/s)
Min orbital speed: 0.8 km/s (0.50 mi/s) (2059-Dec-12)
Inclination: 113.45°
Longitude of ascending node: 139.44°
Argument of periapsis: 153.00°
Last perihelion: 12 December 1992
Next perihelion: 12 July 2126

via Wikipedia infobox

Article

Comet Swift–Tuttle (formally designated 109P/Swift–Tuttle) is a large periodic comet with a 1995 (osculating) orbital period of 133 years that is in a 1:11 orbital resonance with Jupiter. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet, which has an orbital period between 20 and 200 years. The comet was independently discovered by Lewis Swift on 16 July 1862 and by Horace Parnell Tuttle on 19 July 1862.

Its nucleus is 26 km (16 mi) in diameter. Swift–Tuttle is the parent body of the Perseid meteor shower, perhaps the best known shower and among the most reliable in performance.