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Comet Near-Earth

Kowal

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104P/Kowal 2

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.583 AU
True anomaly
221.12°
Distance from Earth
3.599 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 Kowal — 3.583 AU from the Sun Kowal
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Kowal is 3.599 AU from Earth today (29.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 40m 03s
Declination
-17° 26′ 46″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
3.6 AU
Elongation from the Sun
80.64° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
3.208 AU
Eccentricity
0.6655
Inclination
5.7°
Orbital period
5.74 years
Perihelion
1.073 AU
Aphelion
5.342 AU
Longitude of ascending node
207.21°
Argument of periapsis
227.25°
Epoch · J2000
2459486.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 43.3 LD
0.1112 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.789

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
1,551
Data arc
6.44 years
First observed
4 January 2016
Last observed
12 June 2022
Residual RMS
0.88 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
5 April 2023

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.00 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.8
14.6

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Kowal, Charles T.
Discovery date
27 January 1979
Discovery site
Palomar Mountain Observatory, California

Also known as 104P · 104P/1979 B1 · 104P/1991 X1 · 104P/1991f1 · 1979 II · 1979a · 1991 XX

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 19 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Kowal at 2039-01-29 01:23 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-01-29 01:23 UTC close approach of Kowal. Catalogue miss distance 122.7 LD · 4.72 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-01-26 to 2039-02-01, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 122.7 LD · 4.72 × 10⁷ km 2039-01-29 01:23 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2039-01-29 01:23 UTC close approach of Kowal. Catalogue miss distance 122.7 LD · 4.72 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2039-01-26 to 2039-02-01, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-07-23 08:24:00 Juptr 0.6042 AU 235.1 LD 6.7 km/s
2039-01-29 01:23:00 Earth 0.3154 AU 122.7 LD 19.3 km/s
2050-01-10 17:52:00 Earth 0.1029 AU 40.0 LD 12.1 km/s
2060-10-12 03:01:00 Earth 0.2586 AU 100.7 LD 19.1 km/s
2090-02-21 12:58:00 Juptr 0.6184 AU 240.7 LD 7.4 km/s
2102-03-21 23:50:00 Juptr 0.3371 AU 131.2 LD 5.9 km/s
2102-03-21 23:50:00 Jupiter 0.3371 AU 131.2 LD 5.9 km/s
2114-04-25 19:44:00 Jupiter 0.2775 AU 108.0 LD 5.8 km/s
2114-04-25 19:44:00 Juptr 0.2775 AU 108.0 LD 5.8 km/s
2197-08-01 16:20:00 Juptr 0.9503 AU 369.8 LD 7.8 km/s

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

Sources