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Comet

IRAS

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126P/IRAS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.741 AU
True anomaly
153.78°
Distance from Earth
8.34 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth IRAS — 7.741 AU from the Sun IRAS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. IRAS is 8.34 AU from Earth today (1.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 25m 50s
Declination
+24° 43′ 59″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
8.33 AU
Elongation from the Sun
50.94° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
5.64 AU
Eccentricity
0.6963
Inclination
45.87°
Orbital period
13.39 years
Perihelion
1.713 AU
Aphelion
9.567 AU
Longitude of ascending node
357.86°
Argument of periapsis
356.52°
Epoch · J2000
2459361.5
Orbit class · JFC
Jupiter-family comet (2 < T_J < 3)
Earth MOID · 276.6 LD
0.7107 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.963

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,717
Data arc
27.52 years
First observed
8 August 1996
Last observed
15 February 2024
Residual RMS
0.67 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
30 October 2025

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.60 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 11
11.8

Discovery & classification

Discovery date
28 June 1983
Discovery site
Infrared Astronomical Satellite

Also known as 126P · 126P/1983 M1 · 126P/1996 P1 · 1983 XIV · 1983j

Named

Close approaches 3 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2068-07-16 10:26:00 Satrn 1.1354 AU 441.9 LD 7.5 km/s

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

Sources