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Comet

Tempel

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9P/Tempel 1

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.2 AU
True anomaly
237.73°
Distance from Earth
3.614 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 — 3.2 AU from the Sun Tempel
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Tempel is 3.614 AU from Earth today (30.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 43m 54s
Declination
+21° 52′ 43″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
3.6 AU
Elongation from the Sun
58.53° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.146 AU
Eccentricity
0.5097
Inclination
10.47°
Orbital period
5.58 years
Perihelion
1.543 AU
Aphelion
4.75 AU
Longitude of ascending node
68.75°
Argument of periapsis
179.2°
Epoch · J2000
2457470.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 206.0 LD
0.5294 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.97

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
3,283
Data arc
17.16 years
First observed
25 October 2008
Last observed
22 December 2025
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
29 December 2025

Physical properties

Mean radius
3.00 km
Rotation period
40.7 hours
Shape · km
7.6x4.9

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.05
Absolute magnitude (H)
12.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 9
12.9

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Tempel, William
Discovery date
3 April 1867
Discovery site
Marseilles, France

Also known as 9P · 1867 II · 1873 I · 1873a · 1879 III · 1879b · 1966 VII · 1972 V

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2036-04-07 03:49:00 Juptr 0.9107 AU 354.4 LD 6.2 km/s
2108-01-14 05:32:00 Juptr 1.8863 AU 734.1 LD 9.1 km/s
2119-11-28 22:55:00 Jupiter 0.497 AU 193.4 LD 4.9 km/s
2119-11-28 22:55:00 Juptr 0.497 AU 193.4 LD 4.9 km/s
2131-11-14 06:14:00 Juptr 1.1329 AU 440.9 LD 7 km/s
2183-10-17 16:37:00 Mars 0.0191 AU 7.4 LD 6.6 km/s

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

Sources