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Comet

Hergenrother

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175P/Hergenrother

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.637 AU
True anomaly
82.18°
Distance from Earth
3.212 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 Hergenrother — 2.637 AU from the Sun Hergenrother
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Hergenrother is 3.212 AU from Earth today (26.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 17m 54s
Declination
-17° 59′ 17″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
3.22 AU
Elongation from the Sun
46.85° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.436 AU
Eccentricity
0.4327
Inclination
6.07°
Orbital period
6.37 years
Perihelion
1.949 AU
Aphelion
4.923 AU
Longitude of ascending node
123.69°
Argument of periapsis
55.63°
Epoch · J2000
2455983.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 374.1 LD
0.9612 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.971

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
924
Data arc
26.27 years
First observed
4 January 2000
Last observed
12 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.66 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
27 April 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 20.3
10.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 175P · 175P/2000 C1 · 175P/2006 A3

Named

Close approaches 17 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2057-09-29 17:48:00 Jupiter 0.2188 AU 85.2 LD 4.6 km/s
2057-09-29 17:48:00 Juptr 0.2188 AU 85.2 LD 4.6 km/s
2061-04-08 21:15:00 Juptr 1.6986 AU 661.0 LD 2.5 km/s
2118-07-06 13:36:00 Juptr 1.7532 AU 682.3 LD 8.4 km/s
2138-08-31 18:56:00 Juptr 1.7549 AU 683.0 LD 2.4 km/s
2142-03-07 11:56:00 Jupiter 0.294 AU 114.4 LD 4.6 km/s
2142-03-07 11:56:00 Juptr 0.294 AU 114.4 LD 4.6 km/s
2188-05-25 08:30:00 Juptr 0.5247 AU 204.2 LD 5.4 km/s
2192-03-28 21:05:00 Juptr 1.9785 AU 770.0 LD 3.6 km/s

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

Sources