About 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 is a rare comet. It swings within 5.775 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
A Jupiter-family comet, herded by Jupiter's gravity into a short orbit of under twenty years.
Rare comet 39 EP
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 5 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Darker than charcoal +10
- Never comes near the Sun +10
- Has a proper name +8
- Comet +6
- Jupiter-family comet +5
Total score 39
11 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Comet · +6
- Has a proper name · +8
- Jupiter-family comet · +5
- Darker than charcoal · +10
- Never comes near the Sun · +10
Trivia
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. A Jupiter-family comet, herded by Jupiter's gravity into a short orbit of under twenty years.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 5.78 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Saturn.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 14.9 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 5.78 and 6.32 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 2.8× the length of Manhattan island.
- Walk around it. Walking its equator at a steady pace, eight hours a day, would take about 4.7 days.
Standing on it
- Tail. Its tail always points away from the Sun, never trailing behind its motion — it is blown, not dragged.
By the numbers
- Size. Roughly 60.4 km across.
Properties
- albedo
- 0.033
- aphelion au
- 6.32
- designation
- 29P
- diameter km
- 60.4
- eccentricity
- 0.0448
- full name
- 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
- inclination
- 9.36
- mean motion deg day
- 0.0663
- moid au
- 4.78
- name
- 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- JFc
- perihelion au
- 5.775
- semi major au
- 6.046
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 is a rare comet
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 scores 39 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Comet, Has a proper name, Jupiter-family comet, Darker than charcoal and Never comes near the Sun — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.