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Comet

McNaught-Hughes

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130P/McNaught-Hughes

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.8 AU
True anomaly
164.98°
Distance from Earth
5.111 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 McNaught-Hughes — 4.8 AU from the Sun McNaught-Hughes
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. McNaught-Hughes is 5.111 AU from Earth today (42.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 03m 30s
Declination
+21° 24′ 56″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
5.1 AU
Elongation from the Sun
66.95° — well clear of the Sun

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
3.382 AU
Eccentricity
0.4608
Inclination
6.07°
Orbital period
6.22 years
Perihelion
1.824 AU
Aphelion
4.941 AU
Longitude of ascending node
70.26°
Argument of periapsis
245.91°
Epoch · J2000
2458178.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 319.8 LD
0.8218 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.962

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,366
Data arc
34.27 years
First observed
14 September 1991
Last observed
21 December 2025
Residual RMS
0.63 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
29 December 2025

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.10 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.3
10.5

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
McNaught, Robert H.
Discovery date
30 September 1991
Discovery site
U. K. Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring

Also known as 130P · 130P/1991 S1 · 130P/1997 H1 · 1991 IX · 1991y

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2086-06-17 14:11:00 Juptr 0.9135 AU 355.5 LD 4.8 km/s
2097-12-12 23:20:00 Juptr 0.5787 AU 225.2 LD 3.4 km/s
2157-10-17 15:04:00 Jupiter 0.454 AU 176.7 LD 3.4 km/s
2157-10-17 15:04:00 Juptr 0.454 AU 176.7 LD 3.4 km/s
2169-07-22 13:26:00 Juptr 1.8702 AU 727.8 LD 7 km/s

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

Sources