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Comet

Tempel

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10P/Tempel 2

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.582 AU
True anomaly
45.48°
Distance from Earth
0.764 AU
As of
11 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Tempel — 1.582 AU from the Sun Tempel
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Tempel is 0.764 AU from Earth today (6.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 41m 58s
Declination
-32° 10′ 47″
Constellation
Piscis Austrinus
Distance from Earth
0.77 AU
Elongation from the Sun
126.79° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
3.063 AU
Eccentricity
0.5375
Inclination
12.03°
Orbital period
5.36 years
Perihelion
1.417 AU
Aphelion
4.709 AU
Longitude of ascending node
117.8°
Argument of periapsis
195.51°
Epoch · J2000
2457978.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 158.0 LD
0.406 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.964

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
7,037
Data arc
23.59 years
First observed
7 March 2003
Last observed
8 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
9 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
5.30 km
Rotation period
8.93 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.022
Absolute magnitude (H)
13.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.3
13.3

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Tempel, William
Discovery date
3 July 1873
Discovery site
Milan, Italy

Also known as 10P · 10P/1873 N1 · 10P/1878 O1 · 1873 II · 1873b · 1878 III · 1878b · 1894 III

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2050-05-09 08:01:00 Juptr 0.8143 AU 316.9 LD 4.9 km/s
2062-05-27 11:55:00 Juptr 1.0081 AU 392.3 LD 5.2 km/s
2109-12-22 10:39:00 Juptr 1.9643 AU 764.4 LD 8.3 km/s
2121-09-01 15:47:00 Juptr 0.6084 AU 236.8 LD 4 km/s
2169-05-08 22:00:00 Juptr 1.9523 AU 759.8 LD 8.3 km/s
2181-02-13 22:26:00 Juptr 0.7123 AU 277.2 LD 4.2 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources