Tempel 1 in 3D: live position and orbit

A comet about 6 kilometres across. On 4 July 2005 NASA’s Deep Impact released an impactor that struck its surface, and Stardust later returned to image the impact site.

Tempel 1 is shown at its real position, computed from NASA/JPL ephemeris data. The view opens on Tempel 1; you can travel in time, switch between the educational overview and the true-scale voyage, and compare it with every other body of the solar system.

Radius

3.0 km¹ (derived value)

Mean distance from the Sun

3.298 AU² (derived value)

Orbital period

2 188 days² (derived value)

Synodic rotation

40.70 hours¹

Known moons

0 (as of October 2026)¹

Missions

• International Rosetta Mission
• New Exploration of Tempel 1 Mission
• Deep Impact

Sources

1. NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics, Small-Body Database. read 2026-09-17. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html
2. NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics, Horizons System (osculating orbital elements). read 2026-09-17. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/