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Comet

Bernardi

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268P/Bernardi

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.614 AU
True anomaly
119.25°
Distance from Earth
5.406 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 Bernardi — 4.614 AU from the Sun Bernardi
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Bernardi is 5.406 AU from Earth today (45.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 07m 32s
Declination
-08° 51′ 00″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
5.41 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33.45° — 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
4.562 AU
Eccentricity
0.4698
Inclination
16.1°
Orbital period
9.74 years
Perihelion
2.419 AU
Aphelion
6.705 AU
Longitude of ascending node
127.63°
Argument of periapsis
0.31°
Epoch · J2000
2457631.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 557.4 LD
1.4322 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.729

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
218
Data arc
21.59 years
First observed
22 September 2004
Last observed
24 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.29 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
27 April 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
17.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 268P · 268P/2005 V1 · 268P/2012 P2

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2067-02-12 03:53:00 Juptr 0.9572 AU 372.5 LD 6.4 km/s
2081-05-28 17:39:00 Juptr 1.2396 AU 482.4 LD 5.5 km/s
2126-06-21 12:52:00 Juptr 1.6362 AU 636.8 LD 10 km/s
2139-06-24 00:49:00 Juptr 1.7374 AU 676.2 LD 5.7 km/s
2152-09-23 19:11:00 Juptr 1.6492 AU 641.8 LD 9.8 km/s
2197-09-09 10:53:00 Juptr 1.0975 AU 427.1 LD 5.7 km/s

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

Sources