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Comet

Ikeya-Zhang

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153P/Ikeya-Zhang

Ikeya-Zhang is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.51 AU to 101.73 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 365.5 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 17 June 2020.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
42.43 AU
True anomaly
170.4°
Distance from Earth
42.536 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Ikeya-Zhang — 42.43 AU from the Sun Ikeya-Zhang
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Ikeya-Zhang is 42.536 AU from Earth today (5.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 54m 55s
Declination
-32° 31′ 23″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
42.55 AU
Elongation from the Sun
82.63° — 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
51.119 AU
Eccentricity
0.9901
Inclination
28.12°
Orbital period
365.5 years
Perihelion
0.507 AU
Aphelion
101.732 AU
Longitude of ascending node
93.37°
Argument of periapsis
34.67°
Epoch · J2000
2452402.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 129.2 LD
0.3319 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.879

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
1,893
Data arc
403 days
First observed
25 August 2001
Last observed
2 October 2002
Residual RMS
0.75 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
17 June 2020

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 15
4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 153P · 153P/2002 C1

Named

Sources