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Comet

Spahr

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242P/Spahr

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.826 AU
True anomaly
80.23°
Distance from Earth
5.398 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 Spahr — 4.826 AU from the Sun Spahr
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Spahr is 5.398 AU from Earth today (44.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 26m 05s
Declination
-06° 43′ 13″
Constellation
Sextans
Distance from Earth
5.39 AU
Elongation from the Sun
51.1° — 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
5.476 AU
Eccentricity
0.2779
Inclination
32.48°
Orbital period
12.82 years
Perihelion
3.955 AU
Aphelion
6.998 AU
Longitude of ascending node
180.5°
Argument of periapsis
246.29°
Epoch · J2000
2458917.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,211.7 LD
3.1135 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.613

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,567
Data arc
28.51 years
First observed
29 October 1997
Last observed
5 May 2026
Residual RMS
0.7 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 July 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6.8
11.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 242P · 242P/1998 U4 · 242P/2010 P3

Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-06-02 20:39:00 Juptr 1.2628 AU 491.4 LD 6.8 km/s
2040-05-06 18:16:00 Juptr 0.6132 AU 238.7 LD 8.2 km/s
2129-04-25 07:46:00 Jupiter 0.2653 AU 103.2 LD 8.9 km/s
2129-04-25 07:46:00 Juptr 0.2653 AU 103.2 LD 8.9 km/s
2141-01-03 01:52:00 Juptr 0.7642 AU 297.4 LD 9.4 km/s

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

Sources