9P/Tempel 1
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Tempel 1 is a periodic comet (formally designated 9P/Tempel 1). It was discovered on April 3, 1867 by Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel, an astronomer working in Marseille. At the time of discovery, it approached perihelion once every 5.68 years until 1881. However, every so often, Tempel 1 passes close to Jupiter, which distorts its orbit and changes its orbital period. Its current period is 5.5 years.
Tempel 1 is not a bright comet; its maximum magnitude so far has been 11, far below naked eye visibility. Its size is believed to be 14 by 4 kilometers (8.7 by 2.5 miles) based on measurements taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in visible light and the Spitzer Space Telescope in infrared. Combining these observations also revealed a low albedo of only 4%. A two-day rotation rate was also discovered.
On July 4, 2005, Tempel 1 will be impacted by the NASA Deep Impact probe, which will gouge a 100 meter crater into its surface. The purpose is to study the interior composition of a cometary nucleus.de:Tempel 1 fr:Comète Tempel 1 hu:Tempel 1 ja:テンペル第1彗星 nl:Komeet Tempel 1