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Comet

Holt-Olmstead

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127P/Holt-Olmstead

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.403 AU
True anomaly
208.09°
Distance from Earth
5.289 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 Holt-Olmstead — 4.403 AU from the Sun Holt-Olmstead
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Holt-Olmstead is 5.289 AU from Earth today (44.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 31m 08s
Declination
-21° 58′ 53″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
5.29 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.34° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.451 AU
Eccentricity
0.3607
Inclination
14.3°
Orbital period
6.41 years
Perihelion
2.206 AU
Aphelion
4.695 AU
Longitude of ascending node
13.65°
Argument of periapsis
6.71°
Epoch · J2000
2457276.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 470.2 LD
1.2081 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.98

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
912
Data arc
13.7 years
First observed
3 June 2009
Last observed
14 February 2023
Residual RMS
0.78 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
9 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 20.3
10.4

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Holt, Henry E. and Olmstead, C. Michelle
Discovery date
14 September 1990
Discovery site
Palomar Mountain Observatory, California

Also known as 127P · 127P/1990 R2 · 127P/1996 S1 · 1990 XVIII · 1990k

Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2064-01-15 02:10:00 Juptr 1.5503 AU 603.3 LD 4.3 km/s
2076-07-16 23:26:00 Juptr 0.7692 AU 299.3 LD 3.5 km/s
2159-07-14 18:42:00 Juptr 0.7881 AU 306.7 LD 3.3 km/s
2171-12-31 19:52:00 Juptr 1.643 AU 639.4 LD 5.7 km/s

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

Sources