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Comet Near-Earth

Petriew

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185P/Petriew

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.136 AU
True anomaly
188.51°
Distance from Earth
6.049 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 Petriew — 5.136 AU from the Sun Petriew
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Petriew is 6.049 AU from Earth today (50.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 34m 07s
Declination
-12° 51′ 39″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
6.05 AU
Elongation from the Sun
21.27° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.1 AU
Eccentricity
0.6988
Inclination
14°
Orbital period
5.46 years
Perihelion
0.934 AU
Aphelion
5.267 AU
Longitude of ascending node
214.1°
Argument of periapsis
181.94°
Epoch · J2000
2457129.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 23.9 LD
0.0613 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.75

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
715
Data arc
11.7 years
First observed
27 May 2012
Last observed
6 February 2024
Residual RMS
0.72 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
22 February 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10.3
13.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 185P · 185P/2001 Q2 · 185P/2007 A3

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 25 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Petriew at 2056-11-07 02:34 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2056-11-07 02:34 UTC close approach of Petriew. Catalogue miss distance 109.5 LD · 4.21 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2056-11-04 to 2056-11-10, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 109.5 LD · 4.21 × 10⁷ km 2056-11-07 02:34 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2056-11-07 02:34 UTC close approach of Petriew. Catalogue miss distance 109.5 LD · 4.21 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2056-11-04 to 2056-11-10, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2041-07-20 12:46:00 Juptr 1.7565 AU 683.6 LD 10.5 km/s
2053-04-22 03:31:00 Jupiter 0.3954 AU 153.9 LD 6.6 km/s
2053-04-22 03:31:00 Juptr 0.3954 AU 153.9 LD 6.6 km/s
2056-11-07 02:34:00 Earth 0.2815 AU 109.5 LD 12 km/s
2062-10-13 23:43:00 Earth 0.3237 AU 126.0 LD 13.6 km/s
2065-02-27 03:22:00 Jupiter 0.3517 AU 136.9 LD 6.5 km/s
2065-02-27 03:22:00 Juptr 0.3517 AU 136.9 LD 6.5 km/s
2125-03-19 18:59:00 Juptr 0.9612 AU 374.1 LD 6.9 km/s
2136-07-11 18:35:00 Jupiter 0.1502 AU 58.4 LD 6.3 km/s
2136-07-11 18:35:00 Juptr 0.1502 AU 58.4 LD 6.3 km/s

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

Sources