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Olbers

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13P/Olbers

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
8.103 AU
True anomaly
140.81°
Distance from Earth
8.229 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.

Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Olbers — 8.103 AU from the Sun Olbers
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Olbers is 8.229 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 36m 24s
Declination
-40° 24′ 33″
Constellation
Corona Australis
Distance from Earth
8.24 AU
Elongation from the Sun
78.69° — well clear of the Sun

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
16.689 AU
Eccentricity
0.9297
Inclination
44.62°
Orbital period
68.18 years
Perihelion
1.173 AU
Aphelion
32.205 AU
Longitude of ascending node
85.87°
Argument of periapsis
64.51°
Epoch · J2000
2459193.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 183.0 LD
0.4703 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.251

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,605
Data arc
137.9 years
First observed
27 August 1887
Last observed
31 July 2025
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
28 July 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 18.5
6.7

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Olbers, Heinrich Wilhelm
Discovery date
6 March 1815
Discovery site
Bremen, Germany

Also known as 13P · 13P/1815 E1 · 13P/1887 Q1 · 13P/1956 A1 · 1815 · 1887 V · 1887f · 1956 IV

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources