Jupiter-Family Comets
Short-period comets (periods under ~20 years) on low-inclination orbits controlled by Jupiter, with a Tisserand parameter between 2 and 3.
Overview
The most numerous class of periodic comets, whose orbits are shepherded by Jupiter and which originate in the scattered disc beyond Neptune.
Members
10 modelled members.
- 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
The bilobed Jupiter-family comet orbited and landed on by ESA's Rosetta and Philae in 2014–2016 — the most closely studied comet in history.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod6.45 yrDiscovered1969 - 3552 Don Quixote(3552)
A large near-Earth object on a comet-like orbit long suspected to be a dormant comet; faint carbon-dioxide activity was detected in 2013, suggesting it is not fully extinct.
TypeTransition objectDiscovered1983 - Borrelly19P/Borrelly
A Jupiter-family comet whose bowling-pin-shaped nucleus was imaged by NASA's Deep Space 1 in 2001.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod6.8 yrDiscovered1904 - Encke2P/Encke
The comet with the shortest known orbital period (about 3.3 years) and the parent of the Taurid meteor stream.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod3.3 yrDiscovered1786 - Giacobini–Zinner21P/Giacobini–Zinner
A Jupiter-family comet, parent of the Draconid meteor shower, and the first comet ever visited by a spacecraft — NASA's ICE probe flew through its tail in 1985.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod6.6 yrDiscovered1900 - Grigg–Skjellerup26P/Grigg–Skjellerup
A Jupiter-family comet visited by ESA's Giotto in 1992 during its extended mission, after Giotto's earlier encounter with Halley.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod5.3 yrDiscovered1902 - Hartley 2103P/Hartley
A small, hyperactive Jupiter-family comet flown past by NASA's EPOXI mission (the repurposed Deep Impact spacecraft) in 2010.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod6.5 yrDiscovered1986 - Schwassmann–Wachmann 373P/Schwassmann–Wachmann
A Jupiter-family comet that began fragmenting in 1995 and has since broken into dozens of pieces — a rare chance to watch a comet disintegrate over successive returns.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod5.4 yrDiscovered1930 - Tempel 19P/Tempel
A Jupiter-family comet struck by NASA's Deep Impact probe in 2005 and later revisited by Stardust, revealing the composition beneath a comet's crust.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod5.6 yrDiscovered1867 - Wild 281P/Wild
A Jupiter-family comet from which NASA's Stardust captured coma dust and returned it to Earth in 2006 — the first cometary sample return.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod6.4 yrDiscovered1978
Knowledge connections
- Group includes67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
- Group includesTempel 1
- Group includesWild 2
- Group includesBorrelly
- Group includesEncke
- Group includesGiacobini–Zinner
- Group includesGrigg–Skjellerup
- Group includesSchwassmann–Wachmann 3
- Group includesHartley 2
- Group includes3552 Don Quixote
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
- NASA JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics
Orbital data, ephemerides, and small-body parameters for planets, asteroids, and comets.