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Comet

La Sagra

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233P/La Sagra

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.68 AU
True anomaly
98.5°
Distance from Earth
3.668 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 La Sagra — 2.68 AU from the Sun La Sagra
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. La Sagra is 3.668 AU from Earth today (30.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 26m 09s
Declination
-01° 52′ 00″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
3.67 AU
Elongation from the Sun
6.85° — 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
3.03 AU
Eccentricity
0.4113
Inclination
11.28°
Orbital period
5.27 years
Perihelion
1.784 AU
Aphelion
4.276 AU
Longitude of ascending node
74.93°
Argument of periapsis
27.13°
Epoch · J2000
2458093.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 314.5 LD
0.8081 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.082

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
183
Data arc
20.95 years
First observed
9 February 2005
Last observed
22 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
18.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 233P · 233P/2005 JR71 · 233P/2009 WJ50

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-06-16 12:42:00 Juptr 1.7076 AU 664.5 LD 5.1 km/s
2054-10-28 10:39:00 Juptr 1.7518 AU 681.7 LD 2.8 km/s
2102-09-29 17:34:00 Juptr 1.372 AU 533.9 LD 2.8 km/s
2150-02-10 08:33:00 Juptr 1.5269 AU 594.2 LD 3 km/s
2186-10-14 09:31:00 Juptr 1.6318 AU 635.0 LD 5.1 km/s

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

Sources