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Comet

Pigott-LINEAR-Kowalski

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226P/Pigott-LINEAR-Kowalski

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.533 AU
True anomaly
164.47°
Distance from Earth
6.459 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 Pigott-LINEAR-Kowalski — 5.533 AU from the Sun Pigott-LINEAR-Kowalski
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Pigott-LINEAR-Kowalski is 6.459 AU from Earth today (53.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 12m 17s
Declination
+07° 35′ 06″
Constellation
Boötes
Distance from Earth
6.46 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.72° — 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
3.769 AU
Eccentricity
0.5282
Inclination
44°
Orbital period
7.32 years
Perihelion
1.778 AU
Aphelion
5.759 AU
Longitude of ascending node
54.01°
Argument of periapsis
341.1°
Epoch · J2000
2458566.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 315.4 LD
0.8106 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.42

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,679
Data arc
14.59 years
First observed
10 September 2009
Last observed
12 April 2024
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
1 July 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 21
10.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 226P · 226P/1783 W1 · 226P/2003 A1 · 226P/2009 R2

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2042-02-09 13:26:00 Juptr 1.6899 AU 657.7 LD 9.1 km/s
2065-10-28 00:41:00 Juptr 1.3068 AU 508.6 LD 10.9 km/s
2101-07-16 08:53:00 Juptr 0.2412 AU 93.9 LD 9.2 km/s
2101-07-16 08:53:00 Jupiter 0.2412 AU 93.9 LD 9.2 km/s
2125-03-31 23:34:00 Jupiter 0.3078 AU 119.8 LD 9.1 km/s
2125-03-31 23:34:00 Juptr 0.3078 AU 119.8 LD 9.1 km/s
2184-07-15 23:31:00 Juptr 1.2911 AU 502.5 LD 8.7 km/s

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

Sources