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Comet

Kopff

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22P/Kopff

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.6 AU
True anomaly
209.7°
Distance from Earth
5.102 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 Kopff — 4.6 AU from the Sun Kopff
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Kopff is 5.102 AU from Earth today (42.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 45m 30s
Declination
+14° 29′ 36″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
5.09 AU
Elongation from the Sun
55.31° — 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
3.444 AU
Eccentricity
0.5486
Inclination
4.74°
Orbital period
6.39 years
Perihelion
1.555 AU
Aphelion
5.334 AU
Longitude of ascending node
120.84°
Argument of periapsis
162.91°
Epoch · J2000
2458545.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 209.2 LD
0.5376 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.866

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,690
Data arc
12.94 years
First observed
17 January 2013
Last observed
27 December 2025
Residual RMS
0.68 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
8 January 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.50 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.05
Absolute magnitude (H)
11.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 9.8
11.9

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Kopff
Discovery date
22 August 1906
Discovery site
Konigstuhl Observatory, Germany

Also known as 22P · 1906 IV · 1906e · 1919 I · 1919a · 1926 II · 1926c · 1932 III

Named

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2038-03-03 13:06:00 Juptr 0.674 AU 262.3 LD 7.2 km/s
2108-08-08 03:02:00 Juptr 0.7039 AU 273.9 LD 6.8 km/s
2112-08-24 19:01:00 Mars 0.0465 AU 18.1 LD 8 km/s
2120-06-15 09:31:00 Juptr 0.5138 AU 200.0 LD 6.3 km/s
2192-08-28 17:46:00 Jupiter 0.4892 AU 190.4 LD 6.5 km/s
2192-08-28 17:46:00 Juptr 0.4892 AU 190.4 LD 6.5 km/s

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

Sources