Editing 55P/Tempel–Tuttle (section)

==Sightings==
In 1699, it was observed by [[Gottfried Kirch]]<ref name="Kronk">[http://cometography.com/pcomets/055p.html C&MS: 55P/Tempel–Tuttle]</ref> but was not recognized as a [[periodic comet]] until the discoveries by Tempel and Tuttle during the 1866 [[perihelion]]. In 1933, S. Kanda deduced that the comet of 1366 was Tempel–Tuttle, which was confirmed by Joachim Schubart in 1965.<ref name="Kronk"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schubart |first1=Joachim |title=Comet Tempel–Tuttle: Recovery of the Long-Lost Comet of the November Meteors |journal=Science |date=27 May 1966 |volume=152 |issue=3726 |pages=1236–1237 |doi=10.1126/science.152.3726.1236 |url=https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.152.3726.1236|url-access=subscription }}</ref> On 26 October 1366, the comet passed {{convert|0.0229|AU|km mi LD|abbr=on|lk=on}} from Earth.<ref name="closest"/> It is possible the comet was also observed in October 1234, however it is only mentioned briefly by a single Japanese source, and also a comet observed in China in January 1035 could be comet Temple–Tuttle, however unless it had undergone a major outburst, it would have been too dim to observe with the naked eye.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yeomans |first1=Donald K. |last2=Yau |first2=Kevin K. |last3=Weissman |first3=Paul R. |title=The Impending Appearance of Comet Tempel–Tuttle and the Leonid Meteors |journal=Icarus |date=December 1996 |volume=124 |issue=2 |pages=407–413 |doi=10.1006/icar.1996.0218}}</ref>

Comet Tempel–Tuttle was recovered by J. Schubart in images taken by Michiel John Bester on 30 June 1965 using the 10-inch telescope of [[Boyden Observatory]], South Africa. At that time the comet had an apparent magnitude of 16.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gingerich |first1= Owen |title=Periodic Comet Tempel–Tuttle (1965i) |journal=International Astronomical Union Circulars |date=4 October 1965 |volume=1926 |page=2 |url=http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/01900/01926.html}}</ref> The presence of the comet was confirmed in plates obtained by [[Palomar Observatory]] on 30 June. These were the only two observations of the comet during the 1965 apparition.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gingerich |first1= Owen |title=Periodic Comet Tempel–Tuttle (1965i) |journal=International Astronomical Union Circulars |date=1 November 1966 |volume=1979 |page=1 |url=http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/01900/01979.html}}</ref>

The comet was recovered on 4 March 1997 by Karen Meech, Olivier Hainaut and [[James "Gerbs" Bauer]], at the University of Hawai`i. At the time it was very faint (22.5 mag), but the recovery proved that it was returning on schedule and that its orbit was very well determined.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.astro.umd.edu/~farnham/tt/tthist.html | title=Comet 55P/Tempel–Tuttle Through History }}</ref> During the 1998 apparition the comet brightened more than predicted and reached an apparent magnitude of 7.4–7.8 in late February and could be observed with binoculars. It was last observed on 5 July 1998.<ref name="Kronk"/>