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Comet

Brooks

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16P/Brooks 2

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.484 AU
True anomaly
341.1°
Distance from Earth
0.616 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Brooks — 1.484 AU from the Sun Brooks
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Brooks is 0.616 AU from Earth today (5.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 17m 11s
Declination
-14° 44′ 43″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
0.62 AU
Elongation from the Sun
131.65° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
3.375 AU
Eccentricity
0.569
Inclination
4.31°
Orbital period
6.2 years
Perihelion
1.455 AU
Aphelion
5.295 AU
Longitude of ascending node
159.34°
Argument of periapsis
220.17°
Epoch · J2000
2457551.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 179.0 LD
0.46 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.863

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
256
Data arc
7.74 years
First observed
5 May 2014
Last observed
29 January 2022
Residual RMS
0.67 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
21 February 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13.5
12.2

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Brooks, William R.
Discovery date
7 July 1889
Discovery site
Geneva, New York

Also known as 16P · 16P/1889 N1 · 16P/1896 M1 · 1889 V · 1889d · 1896 VI · 1896c · 1903 V

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2053-07-05 23:53:00 Juptr 0.258 AU 100.4 LD 4.6 km/s
2053-07-05 23:53:00 Jupiter 0.258 AU 100.4 LD 4.6 km/s
2064-10-19 12:13:00 Juptr 0.6447 AU 250.9 LD 5.3 km/s
2124-03-23 12:16:00 Juptr 0.4294 AU 167.1 LD 4.7 km/s
2124-03-23 12:16:00 Jupiter 0.4294 AU 167.1 LD 4.7 km/s

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

Sources