Comet · 26P/Grigg–Skjellerup
Grigg–Skjellerup
A Jupiter-family comet visited by ESA's Giotto in 1992 during its extended mission, after Giotto's earlier encounter with Halley.
Comets
Imagery
Grigg-Skjellerup Eso9209a
The comet Grigg-Skjellerup on 29 June 1992.
ESO · CC BY
Orbit & physical parameters
Osculating orbit and physical parameters from the NASA JPL Small-Body Database · Jupiter-family Comet · near-Earth · epoch 2012-03-31 (JD 2456017.5 TDB) · Earth MOID 0.0848288 au
| Semi-major axis | 3.024224 ± 5.1447e-8 au | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Eccentricity | 0.639668 ± 6.0032e-8 | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Perihelion distance | 1.089725 ± 1.9011e-7 au | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Aphelion distance | 4.958724 ± 8.4356e-8 au | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Inclination | 22.455114 ± 1.0203e-5 deg | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Longitude of ascending node | 211.633966 ± 3.0332e-5 deg | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Argument of perihelion | 1.896086 ± 3.2501e-5 deg | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Orbital period | 1,921 ± 4.9018e-5 d | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Diameter | 2.6 km | NASA JPL · catalogued |
Full field-level provenance
- Semi-major axis: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics · JPL SBDB · orbit.elements · a · JPL orbit determination (least-squares fit to the observation arc) · calculated · JPL solution by Davide Farnocchia, 511 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Eccentricity: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics · JPL SBDB · orbit.elements · e · JPL orbit determination (least-squares fit to the observation arc) · calculated · JPL solution by Davide Farnocchia, 511 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Perihelion distance: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics · JPL SBDB · orbit.elements · q · JPL orbit determination (least-squares fit to the observation arc) · calculated · JPL solution by Davide Farnocchia, 511 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Aphelion distance: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics · JPL SBDB · orbit.elements · ad · JPL orbit determination (least-squares fit to the observation arc) · calculated · JPL solution by Davide Farnocchia, 511 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Inclination: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics · JPL SBDB · orbit.elements · i · JPL orbit determination (least-squares fit to the observation arc) · calculated · JPL solution by Davide Farnocchia, 511 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Longitude of ascending node: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics · JPL SBDB · orbit.elements · om · JPL orbit determination (least-squares fit to the observation arc) · calculated · JPL solution by Davide Farnocchia, 511 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Argument of perihelion: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics · JPL SBDB · orbit.elements · w · JPL orbit determination (least-squares fit to the observation arc) · calculated · JPL solution by Davide Farnocchia, 511 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Orbital period: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics · JPL SBDB · orbit.elements · per · JPL orbit determination (least-squares fit to the observation arc) · calculated · JPL solution by Davide Farnocchia, 511 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Diameter: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics · JPL SBDB · phys_par · phys.diameter · catalogued value · JPL solution by Davide Farnocchia, 511 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
Orbital elements are a calculated JPL orbit-determination fit, all referred to the single osculating epoch above (solution by Davide Farnocchia); each carries its own uncertainty. Fields the database did not provide are omitted, never invented.
Exploration
Visited by:Giotto
Classification & origin
Class:Jupiter-Family Comets
Source reservoir:Scattered Disc
Knowledge connections
- Member of groupJupiter-Family Comets
- Source reservoirScattered Disc
- Visited byGiotto
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.