Comet Swift–Tuttle reached perihelion on 12 December 1992 during the return preceding the 2026 Perseids.
The 1992 perihelion was the comet’s closest approach to the Sun in that apparition. The comet had been rediscovered earlier that year, allowing astronomers to observe its return and refine predictions of its orbit. Those observations helped establish the comet’s identity and improve calculations for future passages.
Perihelion occurred in December, whereas the Perseid meteor shower appears in July and August. This difference is not a contradiction: the meteoroid stream was created over many cometary returns, and Earth encounters the stream at a different point in the comet’s orbit.
The date also helps distinguish this comet from other famous meteor-shower parents. For example, Comet Tempel–Tuttle produces the Leonids, while Swift–Tuttle is associated with the Perseids.