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Comet

Helin-Lawrence

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152P/Helin-Lawrence

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.874 AU
True anomaly
180.02°
Distance from Earth
5.238 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 Helin-Lawrence — 5.874 AU from the Sun Helin-Lawrence
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Helin-Lawrence is 5.238 AU from Earth today (43.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
05h 32m 51s
Declination
+20° 10′ 58″
Constellation
Taurus
Distance from Earth
5.23 AU
Elongation from the Sun
126.36° — 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
4.493 AU
Eccentricity
0.3072
Inclination
9.87°
Orbital period
9.52 years
Perihelion
3.113 AU
Aphelion
5.874 AU
Longitude of ascending node
91.9°
Argument of periapsis
163.59°
Epoch · J2000
2457062.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 817.2 LD
2.0999 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.901

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,298
Data arc
31.71 years
First observed
21 April 1993
Last observed
4 January 2025
Residual RMS
0.73 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 March 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6
12.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 152P · 152P/1993 K2 · 152P/2001 Y1 · 1993 XI · 1993l

Named

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2037-12-13 03:24:00 Juptr 0.32 AU 124.5 LD 5.1 km/s
2037-12-13 03:24:00 Jupiter 0.32 AU 124.5 LD 5.1 km/s
2059-08-25 18:56:00 Juptr 1.7625 AU 685.9 LD 9.2 km/s
2095-11-27 15:47:00 Juptr 0.5756 AU 224.0 LD 3.8 km/s
2154-01-05 19:34:00 Juptr 0.2081 AU 81.0 LD 4.8 km/s
2154-01-05 19:34:00 Jupiter 0.2081 AU 81.0 LD 4.8 km/s
2157-06-05 05:14:00 Juptr 1.8887 AU 735.0 LD 2.5 km/s

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

Sources