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Comet

Mueller

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131P/Mueller 2

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.861 AU
True anomaly
66.93°
Distance from Earth
2.706 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 Mueller — 2.861 AU from the Sun Mueller
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Mueller is 2.706 AU from Earth today (22.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 05m 43s
Declination
+13° 00′ 32″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
2.7 AU
Elongation from the Sun
88.96° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
3.679 AU
Eccentricity
0.3432
Inclination
7.36°
Orbital period
7.06 years
Perihelion
2.416 AU
Aphelion
4.941 AU
Longitude of ascending node
214.2°
Argument of periapsis
179.27°
Epoch · J2000
2456559.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 553.4 LD
1.4221 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.981

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
921
Data arc
35.32 years
First observed
15 September 1990
Last observed
8 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.73 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
8 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 24.3
8.5

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Mueller, Jean
Discovery date
15 September 1990
Discovery site
Palomar Mountain Observatory, California

Also known as 131P · 131P/1990 R1 · 131P/1997 M2 · 1990 XXIV · 1990j

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2029-12-30 23:23:00 Juptr 0.376 AU 146.3 LD 2.7 km/s
2029-12-30 23:23:00 Jupiter 0.376 AU 146.3 LD 2.7 km/s
2069-06-27 14:30:00 Juptr 1.905 AU 741.4 LD 4.5 km/s
2087-05-16 15:18:00 Juptr 1.5962 AU 621.2 LD 1.4 km/s
2089-05-04 17:35:00 Juptr 1.5439 AU 600.8 LD 4.5 km/s
2125-03-14 12:02:00 Juptr 0.9544 AU 371.4 LD 3.3 km/s
2172-10-29 07:23:00 Juptr 0.6544 AU 254.7 LD 2.8 km/s
2184-10-16 08:52:00 Juptr 1.8657 AU 726.1 LD 7.1 km/s

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

Sources