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Comet Near-Earth

de Vico

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122P/de Vico

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
34.1 AU
True anomaly
177.88°
Distance from Earth
34.571 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.

Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth de Vico — 34.1 AU from the Sun de Vico
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. de Vico is 34.571 AU from Earth today (4.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 08m 06s
Declination
-33° 38′ 11″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
34.58 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.52° — 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
17.681 AU
Eccentricity
0.9627
Inclination
85.38°
Orbital period
74.35 years
Perihelion
0.659 AU
Aphelion
34.702 AU
Longitude of ascending node
79.62°
Argument of periapsis
13°
Epoch · J2000
2450280.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 123.3 LD
0.3168 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.375

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
294
Data arc
150.3 years
First observed
2 March 1846
Last observed
25 June 1996
Residual RMS
1.11 ″
Solution · M.S.W. Keesey
2 July 2001

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
7.5

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
de Vico, Francesco
Discovery date
20 February 1846
Discovery site
Collegio Romano Obseratory, Rome, Italy

Also known as 122P · 122P/1846 D1 · 122P/1995 S1 · 1846 IV

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 1 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2153-12-30 21:54:00 Urnus 0.6943 AU 270.2 LD 8.9 km/s

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

Sources