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Comet

Hergenrother

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168P/Hergenrother

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.743 AU
True anomaly
59.8°
Distance from Earth
1.239 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 Hergenrother — 1.743 AU from the Sun Hergenrother
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Hergenrother is 1.239 AU from Earth today (10.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 29m 13s
Declination
+52° 37′ 01″
Constellation
Lynx
Distance from Earth
1.24 AU
Elongation from the Sun
102.24° — 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
3.624 AU
Eccentricity
0.6095
Inclination
21.93°
Orbital period
6.9 years
Perihelion
1.415 AU
Aphelion
5.833 AU
Longitude of ascending node
356.48°
Argument of periapsis
13.92°
Epoch · J2000
2455839.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 163.4 LD
0.42 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.663

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
3,377
Data arc
14.22 years
First observed
21 November 1998
Last observed
8 February 2013
Residual RMS
0.86 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 November 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 44
7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 168P · 168P/1998 W2 · 168P/2005 N2

Named

Close approaches 15 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-04-14 15:17:00 Juptr 0.9963 AU 387.7 LD 9.1 km/s
2063-11-20 16:45:00 Juptr 0.3401 AU 132.4 LD 6.5 km/s
2063-11-20 16:45:00 Jupiter 0.3401 AU 132.4 LD 6.5 km/s
2112-02-29 04:59:00 Juptr 1.1182 AU 435.2 LD 7.4 km/s
2123-01-04 03:08:00 Juptr 0.1543 AU 60.0 LD 7.8 km/s
2123-01-04 03:08:00 Jupiter 0.1543 AU 60.0 LD 7.8 km/s
2147-12-13 08:29:00 Juptr 1.0122 AU 393.9 LD 5.6 km/s
2171-11-10 14:34:00 Juptr 1.8975 AU 738.5 LD 10.9 km/s
2182-08-11 20:30:00 Juptr 1.9914 AU 775.0 LD 12 km/s

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

Sources