Comet
Comet Swift–Tuttle
A periodic comet (109P/Swift–Tuttle) that is the parent body of the Perseid meteor shower.
- Type
- Comet
- Domain
- Scientific connections
- Connections
- 4
Aanderson@amherst.edu · CC BY-SA
- Type: Comet
- Domain: Scientific connections
Orbit & physical parameters
Osculating orbit and physical parameters from the NASA JPL Small-Body Database · Halley-type Comet* · near-Earth · epoch 1995-10-10 (JD 2450000.5 TDB) · Earth MOID 0.000892135 au
| Semi-major axis | 26.092069 ± 8.2048e-7 au | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Eccentricity | 0.963226 ± 6.8344e-9 | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Perihelion distance | 0.959516 ± 1.7657e-7 au | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Aphelion distance | 51.224623 ± 1.6108e-6 au | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Inclination | 113.453817 ± 2.1907e-5 deg | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Longitude of ascending node | 139.381192 ± 2.7841e-5 deg | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Argument of perihelion | 152.982168 ± 3.2865e-5 deg | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Orbital period | 48,681 ± 0.002296 d | NASA JPL · calculated |
| Diameter | 26 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 M.S.W. Keesey, 652 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 M.S.W. Keesey, 652 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 M.S.W. Keesey, 652 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 M.S.W. Keesey, 652 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 M.S.W. Keesey, 652 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 M.S.W. Keesey, 652 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 M.S.W. Keesey, 652 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 M.S.W. Keesey, 652 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Diameter: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics · JPL SBDB · phys_par · phys.diameter · catalogued value · JPL solution by M.S.W. Keesey, 652 obs · retrieved 2026-07-11
Orbital elements are a calculated JPL orbit-determination fit, all referred to the single osculating epoch above (solution by M.S.W. Keesey); each carries its own uncertainty. Fields the database did not provide are omitted, never invented.
Experience system V6
Comet profile
A trajectory-led view for nucleus, coma, tail, orbit class, and mission or observatory links.
- 01
Observe
WIKIMEDIA imagery anchors the visual reading with licensed source metadata.
- 02
Measure
Measurement panels use graph coverage, catalog identifiers, and source availability without inventing values.
- 03
Locate
Associated with Perseids.
- 04
Connect
4 graph relations shape the knowledge viewport.
- Object type
- Comet
- Graph relations
- 4
- Verified sources
- 2
- Image records
- 2
- Domain
- Scientific connections
- Status
- Graph entity
Scientific map
Orbit context
- Primary orbital anchor
- The Sun
- Measured orbit field
- Orbital distance not recorded in this graph record
Original SVG diagram
Small-body anatomy
- Designation
- 109P/Swift–Tuttle
- Discovery
- 1862
- Eccentricity
- Not recorded
- Inclination
- Not recorded
Visual knowledge graph
Relationships, not isolated facts
This viewport is generated from the Asteria knowledge graph. Science, culture, and interpretive links remain separated by domain so visual context never changes the evidentiary meaning of a relation.
- Member of groupHalley-Type Comets
- Source reservoirOort Cloud
- Associated withPerseids
Parent comet of the Perseids.
- Source of meteor showerPerseids
Image provenance
Photography as evidence
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Continue the atlas
Curated next objects
Perseids
A prominent summer meteor shower whose radiant lies in the constellation Perseus, produced by debris from comet Swift–Tuttle.
comet classHalley-Type Comets
Periodic comets with orbits of decades to a couple of centuries, named for their prototype, Halley's Comet.
small body reservoirOort Cloud
A hypothesised spherical cloud of trillions of icy bodies at the outermost edge of the Sun's gravitational influence — the reservoir from which long-period and Halley-type comets are nudged inward.
cometHalley's Comet
A short-period comet (1P/Halley) that returns to the inner Solar System roughly every 76 years.
cometTempel–Tuttle
The parent comet of the Leonid meteor shower, whose 33-year returns produce the periodic Leonid storms.
amateur activityMeteor Observing
Counting and recording meteors during a shower — their number, brightness, and paths — to measure the shower's strength and structure. Coordinated worldwide by the International Meteor Organization, it is a science anyone can do with nothing but their eyes and patience.
Observation
How this was captured
- Source
- WIKIMEDIA
Data
Scientific data & provenance
Data & provenance
- Stable ID
comet:swift-tuttle- Type
- Comet
- Domain
- Scientific connections
- Relationships
- 4
- Graph version
- 1.0.0
Dataset membership
Open data
In the graph export: graph.json · graph.jsonld
Planned API: GET /api/v0/entities/comet:swift-tuttle
Scientific quality
Substantial4 of 6 applicable dimensions complete
- Description
- Complete
- Source coverage
- Complete
- Relationship coverage
- Complete
- Review coverage
- None
- Citation coverage
- None
- Image coverage
- Complete
- Timeline coverage
- Not applicable
Scientific entity. Dimensions that cannot apply to this object are excluded rather than counted as gaps. See the evidence framework and authority dashboard.
You might also explore
- CometHalley's CometLinked through Halley-Type Comets
- CometTempel–TuttleLinked through Halley-Type Comets
- Amateur activityMeteor ObservingLinked through Perseids
- ConstellationPerseus (constellation)Linked through Perseids
- Observing plannerSeason PlannerLinked through Perseids
- CometComet Hale–BoppLinked through Oort Cloud
Sources & references
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.
- BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica
General reference for the history of astronomy, biographies, and cultural context.