Comets

year
found		 closest distance
from Sun (AU)		 time to orbit
Sun (years)		 next or most recent
pass by Sun
Arend-Roland 1956 0.316 ? ?
Bennett 1970 0.538 ? ?
Biela 1772 0.861 6.62 ?
Borrelly 1904 1.358 6.68 2001
Brorsen-Metcalf 1847 0.479 70.6 2060
Chiron 1977 ? 51 2047
Churyumov-Gerasimenko 1969 1.29 6.57 2009
d'Arrest 1851 1.291 6.38 2001
Donati 1858 0.578 ? ?
Encke 1786 0.341 3.31 2003
Giacobini-Zinner 1900 1.028 6.59 1999
Grigg-Skjellerup 1808
1902 (rediscovered)		 .989 5.09 ?
Hale-Bopp 1995 0.9143 4000 1997
Halley ? 0.587 76.09 2062
Hyakutake 1996 0.23 ~30,000 ~31,500
Ikeya-Seki 1965 0.008 880 2845
IRAS-Araki-
Alcock		 1983 0.991 ? ?
Kohoutek 1973 0.142 ? ?
Lexell 1770 0.674 5.60 ?
Linear 1999 0.762 ? ?
Morehouse 1908 0.945 ? ?
Mrkos 1957 0.355 ? ?
Schwassmann-
Wachmann 1		 1908 5.448 15 2004
Schwassmann-
Wachmann 3		 1930 .937 5.36 2006
Shoemaker-Levy 9 1993 collided with Jupiter in 1994
Swift-Tuttle 1862 0.963 120 ?
Tempel 1 1867 1.5 5.51 2005
Tempel 2 1873 1.381 5.29 1999
West 1976 0.197 ? ?
Wild 2 1978 1.583 6.39 2003
Wirtanen 1948 1.063 5.46 2013

Last modified January 9, 2004 by Randy Russell.

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko was discovered in 1969. It is named after the two scientists who found it, Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko. The comet goes around the Sun once every 6.57 years. The...more

Comet Wild 2

Comet Wild 2 is named after the scientist who discovered it. Paul Wild is an astronomer from Switzerland who discovered the comet in January 1978. Wild 2 is pronounced "Vilt 2". It takes the comet a little...more

Comet Hale-Bopp

Comet Hale-Bopp was one of the brightest comets of all time. Astronomers witnessed the comet spew out intermittent bursts of dust. The surface seemed to be an incredibly dynamic place, with 'vents' being...more

Missions to Halley's comet in 1986

Six spacecraft flew to Halley's comet in 1986. There were two spacecraft launched from Japan, named Suisei and Sakigake, and two from the Soviet Union, named Vega 1 & 2. One spacecraft, ICE, was from the...more

The Jupiter family of comets

Astronomers have noticed a group of comets which they call the Jupiter Family of Comets. This family of comets is to be found circling between Jupiter and the sun, as shown in this picture. The comets...more

What we learned from Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9

Scientists have learned a great deal from the crash of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Scientists traced the orbit of the comet backwards in time to guess its origin. The crash of a comet like Shoemaker-Levy 9...more

The trajectory of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 over time

Mathematical theory suggests that comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was likely a short-period comet which was captured into orbit around Jupiter in 1929. This orbit ended with a collision of the comet with Jupiter...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA