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Comet

Mueller

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173P/Mueller 5

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.808 AU
True anomaly
147.81°
Distance from Earth
7.233 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 Mueller — 6.808 AU from the Sun Mueller
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Mueller is 7.233 AU from Earth today (1.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 02m 26s
Declination
-22° 42′ 13″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
7.25 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.36° — 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
5.691 AU
Eccentricity
0.2614
Inclination
16.51°
Orbital period
13.58 years
Perihelion
4.204 AU
Aphelion
7.179 AU
Longitude of ascending node
100.5°
Argument of periapsis
29.39°
Epoch · J2000
2455978.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,257.2 LD
3.2305 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.85

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,194
Data arc
30.73 years
First observed
25 September 1992
Last observed
20 June 2023
Residual RMS
0.76 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 June 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
12.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 173P · 173P/1993 W1 · 173P/2005 T1 · 1993s · 1994 XXV

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2048-02-17 23:48:00 Juptr 1.2533 AU 487.7 LD 7 km/s
2062-12-21 10:00:00 Juptr 1.519 AU 591.1 LD 4.6 km/s
2067-01-08 20:53:00 Juptr 1.4312 AU 557.0 LD 4.2 km/s
2167-09-26 11:31:00 Juptr 0.8183 AU 318.4 LD 5 km/s
2174-01-23 04:58:00 Juptr 1.8847 AU 733.5 LD 4.5 km/s
2184-05-22 00:18:00 Juptr 1.9483 AU 758.2 LD 7.4 km/s

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

Sources