1 day / second

0.5 AU

81P/Wild 2

Comet

A short-period comet discovered in 1978 that was extensively studied by NASA's Stardust mission, which collected samples of its coma dust and returned them to Earth in 2006.

Key Facts

learn more

Wikipedia

mass

2.3000e+13 kg

radius

2.25 km

hill radius

374.351 km

semi-major axis

3.45 AU

eccentricity

0.537

inclination

3.237º

longitude of the ascending node

136.11º

argument of periapsis

41.725º

orbital period

6.407 years

discovery date

January 6, 1978

discovered by

Paul Wild

name origins

Named after its discoverer Paul Wild

dimensions

4 kilometers in diameter

material composition

Nucleus composed of dust and ice
Spacecraft Visits
Stardust

Flyby

NASA

Launched in 1999, visited in 2004

Stardust flew within 236 kilometers of comet Wild 2 in January 2004, capturing dust particles from its coma and returning them to Earth in 2006 for analysis, marking the first sample return mission from a comet.

Other Comets
Halley
Hale-Bopp
Borrelly
Tempel 1
Hartley 2
Grigg-Skjellerup