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Comet

Van Ness

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213P/Van Ness

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.705 AU
True anomaly
176.11°
Distance from Earth
5.199 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 Van Ness — 4.705 AU from the Sun Van Ness
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Van Ness is 5.199 AU from Earth today (43.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 41m 33s
Declination
+13° 32′ 09″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
5.19 AU
Elongation from the Sun
56.02° — 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
3.348 AU
Eccentricity
0.4076
Inclination
10.38°
Orbital period
6.13 years
Perihelion
1.983 AU
Aphelion
4.712 AU
Longitude of ascending node
311.32°
Argument of periapsis
5.56°
Epoch · J2000
2458161.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 376.9 LD
0.9684 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.995

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
367
Data arc
7.69 years
First observed
22 April 2017
Last observed
30 December 2024
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
11 April 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 16
10.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 213P

Named

Sources