Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Kowal-Vavrova

Add to an observing list or journal →

134P/Kowal-Vavrova

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.171 AU
True anomaly
222.8°
Distance from Earth
6.637 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 Kowal-Vavrova — 7.171 AU from the Sun Kowal-Vavrova
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Kowal-Vavrova is 6.637 AU from Earth today (55.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 01m 37s
Declination
+19° 18′ 22″
Constellation
Orion
Distance from Earth
6.62 AU
Elongation from the Sun
119.78° — 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
6.229 AU
Eccentricity
0.5872
Inclination
4.35°
Orbital period
15.55 years
Perihelion
2.572 AU
Aphelion
9.887 AU
Longitude of ascending node
202.12°
Argument of periapsis
18.56°
Epoch · J2000
2456476.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 608.9 LD
1.5646 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.602

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,061
Data arc
32.34 years
First observed
8 May 1983
Last observed
8 September 2015
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
5.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 21
5.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 134P · 134P/1983 J3 · 134P/1997 X2 · 1983 III · 1983t

Named

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2118-12-16 06:29:00 Satrn 0.6355 AU 247.3 LD 5.3 km/s
2140-08-11 21:41:00 Juptr 1.0795 AU 420.1 LD 11.8 km/s
2146-06-28 04:26:00 Satrn 0.9215 AU 358.6 LD 4.2 km/s

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

Sources