List of numbered comets in the context of Minor Planet Center


List of numbered comets in the context of Minor Planet Center

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⭐ Core Definition: List of numbered comets

This is a list of periodic comets that were numbered by the Minor Planet Center after having been observed on at least two occasions. Their orbital periods vary from 3.2 to 366 years. As of November 2025, there are 513 numbered comets (1P–513P). There are 440 Jupiter-family comets (JFCs), 50 Encke-type comets (ETCs), 15 Halley-type comets (HTCs), five Chiron-type comets (CTCs), and one long-period comet (153P). 79 bodies are also near-Earth comets (NECs). In addition, eight numbered comets are principally classified as minor planets – five main-belt comets, two centaurs (CEN), and one Apollo asteroid – and display characteristics of both an asteroid and a comet.

Occasionally, comets will break up into multiple chunks, as volatiles coming off the comet and rotational forces may cause it to break into two or more pieces. An extreme example of this is 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann, which broke into over 50 pieces during its 1995 perihelion.

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List of numbered comets in the context of Comet Tempel 1

Tempel 1 (official designation: 9P/Tempel) is a Jupiter-family comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel in 1867. It completes an orbit of the Sun every 5.6 years. Tempel 1 was the target of the Deep Impact space mission, which photographed a deliberate high-speed impact upon the comet in 2005. It was re-visited by the Stardust spacecraft on 14 February 2011, and came back to perihelion in August 2016. On 26 May 2024, it made a modest approach to Jupiter at a distance of 0.55 AU (82 million km), which lifted the perihelion distance. 9P will next come to perihelion on 12 February 2028 when it will be 1.77 AU (265 million km) from the Sun.

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List of numbered comets in the context of 35P/Herschel–Rigollet

35P/Herschel–Rigollet is a Halley-type comet with an orbital period of 155 years and an orbital inclination of 64 degrees. It was first discovered by Caroline Herschel on 21 December 1788. Given that the comet has a 155-year orbit involving asymmetric outgassing, and astrometric observations in 1939 were not as precise as modern observations, predictions for the next perihelion passage in 2092 vary by about a month.

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List of numbered comets in the context of (300163) 2006 VW139

(300163) 2006 VW139 (provisional designation 2006 VW139, periodic comet designation 288P/2006 VW139) is a binary active asteroid and main-belt comet from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. The object was discovered by Spacewatch in 2006. Its binary nature was confirmed by the Hubble Space Telescope in September 2016. Both primary and its minor-planet moon are similar in mass and size, making it a true binary system. The components are estimated to measure 1.8 kilometers in diameter, orbiting each other at a wide separation of 104 kilometers every 135 days.

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List of numbered comets in the context of 153P/Ikeya–Zhang

Comet Ikeya–Zhang (Japanese, Chinese: 池谷-張彗星, officially designated 153P/Ikeya–Zhang) is a long-period comet discovered independently by two astronomers from Japan and China in 2002. It has by far the longest orbital period of the numbered periodic comets. It was last observed in October 2002 when it was about 3.3 AU (490 million km) from the Sun.

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