It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet, which has an orbital period between 20 and 200 years.

[5] The comet made a return appearance in 1992, when it was rediscovered by Japanese astronomer Tsuruhiko Kiuchi and became visible with binoculars.

However, it had been suggested in 1902 that this was the same comet as that observed by Ignatius Kegler on 3 July 1737[9] and on this basis Brian Marsden calculated correctly that it would return in 1992.

[7] The comet is on an orbit that makes repeated close approaches to the Earth–Moon system,[7] and has an Earth-MOID (Minimum orbit intersection distance) of 0.0009 AU (130,000 km; 84,000 mi).< [4] Upon its September 1992 rediscovery, the comet's date of perihelion passage was off from the 1973 prediction by 17 days.

This prompted amateur astronomer and writer Gary W. Kronk to search for previous apparitions of this comet.

He found the comet was most likely observed by the Chinese at least twice, first in 69 BCE and later in 188 CE;[12] these two sightings were quickly confirmed by Brian Marsden and added to the list of perihelion passages at the Minor Planet Center.

[15] In 1996, the long-term possibility of Comet Swift–Tuttle impacting Earth was compared to 433 Eros and about 3000 other kilometer-sized objects of concern.