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Comet

Spahr

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171P/Spahr

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.417 AU
True anomaly
116.12°
Distance from Earth
4.357 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 Spahr — 3.417 AU from the Sun Spahr
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Spahr is 4.357 AU from Earth today (36.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 03m 29s
Declination
+05° 06′ 44″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
4.36 AU
Elongation from the Sun
16.79° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
3.558 AU
Eccentricity
0.5019
Inclination
21.93°
Orbital period
6.71 years
Perihelion
1.772 AU
Aphelion
5.344 AU
Longitude of ascending node
101.7°
Argument of periapsis
347.16°
Epoch · J2000
2458232.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 308.9 LD
0.7937 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.789

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
681
Data arc
20.51 years
First observed
1 September 2005
Last observed
6 March 2026
Residual RMS
0.67 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
7 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 22.8
11.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 171P · 171P/1998 W1 · 171P/2005 R3

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2043-11-09 06:04:00 Juptr 1.8372 AU 715.0 LD 9.9 km/s
2055-05-03 05:06:00 Juptr 0.718 AU 279.4 LD 6.1 km/s
2091-05-25 05:59:00 Juptr 1.3436 AU 522.9 LD 8.3 km/s
2102-09-03 00:46:00 Juptr 1.6337 AU 635.8 LD 8.5 km/s
2138-11-21 02:55:00 Juptr 0.7585 AU 295.2 LD 6.8 km/s
2150-02-24 17:51:00 Juptr 1.3115 AU 510.4 LD 8.1 km/s
2197-11-17 15:22:00 Jupiter 0.0355 AU 13.8 LD 8.8 km/s
2197-11-17 15:22:00 Juptr 0.0355 AU 13.8 LD 8.8 km/s

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

Sources