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ISON

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365756 ISON (2010 WZ71)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.572 AU
True anomaly
97.69°
Distance from Earth
5.495 AU
As of
11 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth ISON — 4.572 AU from the Sun ISON
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. ISON is 5.495 AU from Earth today (45.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 27m 41s
Declination
-13° 20′ 41″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
5.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.87° — too close to the Sun to observe

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
5.858 AU
Eccentricity
0.5237
Inclination
20.25°
Orbital period
14.18 years
Perihelion
2.79 AU
Aphelion
8.926 AU
Longitude of ascending node
219.29°
Argument of periapsis
266.37°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 738.2 LD
1.897 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.584

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
318
Data arc
17.44 years
First observed
29 October 2008
Last observed
9 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.18

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Elenin, L.
Discovery date
4 November 2010
Discovery site
Mayhill-ISON

The International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) is an international collaboration of optical observatories. The main scientific tasks of the ISON network are the study of the populations of space debris and minor solar-system, and observation of the optical counterparts of gamma-ray bursts.

Also known as 365756 · 2010 WZ71

Centaur Named

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2124-11-21 18:37:00 Juptr 1.1584 AU 450.8 LD 6.7 km/s
2189-10-02 13:59:00 Juptr 1.1796 AU 459.1 LD 7.2 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources