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Comet

Larson

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261P/Larson

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.757 AU
True anomaly
82.56°
Distance from Earth
2.44 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 Larson — 2.757 AU from the Sun Larson
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Larson is 2.44 AU from Earth today (20.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 48m 27s
Declination
+26° 52′ 24″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
2.43 AU
Elongation from the Sun
98.21° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.524 AU
Eccentricity
0.4187
Inclination
6.05°
Orbital period
6.62 years
Perihelion
2.049 AU
Aphelion
5 AU
Longitude of ascending node
294.23°
Argument of periapsis
62.73°
Epoch · J2000
2457671.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 409.5 LD
1.0523 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.963

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,339
Data arc
20.62 years
First observed
3 July 2005
Last observed
13 February 2026
Residual RMS
0.78 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
5.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 32.8
5.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 261P · 261P/2005 N3 · 261P/2012 K4

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2075-12-02 18:05:00 Juptr 0.8038 AU 312.8 LD 2.9 km/s
2087-10-21 05:29:00 Juptr 1.9818 AU 771.3 LD 6.9 km/s
2147-04-03 05:12:00 Juptr 0.7363 AU 286.6 LD 2.6 km/s

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

Sources