Historic Comets

A Jupiter-family comet whose bowling-pin-shaped nucleus was imaged by NASA's Deep Space 1 in 2001.

The comet with the shortest known orbital period (about 3.3 years) and the parent of the Taurid meteor stream.

A Jupiter-family comet, parent of the Draconid meteor shower, and the first comet ever visited by a spacecraft — NASA's ICE probe flew through its tail in 1985.

A Jupiter-family comet visited by ESA's Giotto in 1992 during its extended mission, after Giotto's earlier encounter with Halley.

A large Halley-type comet on a 133-year orbit, the parent body of the reliable Perseid meteor shower each August.

A Jupiter-family comet struck by NASA's Deep Impact probe in 2005 and later revisited by Stardust, revealing the composition beneath a comet's crust.

The parent comet of the Leonid meteor shower, whose 33-year returns produce the periodic Leonid storms.

A long-period comet on a roughly 415-year orbit, the parent body of the Lyrid meteor shower seen each April.