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Comet

Tombaugh-Tenagra

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274P/Tombaugh-Tenagra

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.283 AU
True anomaly
179.69°
Distance from Earth
6.374 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 Tombaugh-Tenagra — 6.283 AU from the Sun Tombaugh-Tenagra
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Tombaugh-Tenagra is 6.374 AU from Earth today (53.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 30m 55s
Declination
-31° 29′ 36″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
6.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
79.67° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
4.364 AU
Eccentricity
0.4397
Inclination
15.83°
Orbital period
9.12 years
Perihelion
2.445 AU
Aphelion
6.283 AU
Longitude of ascending node
81.37°
Argument of periapsis
38.59°
Epoch · J2000
2457357.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 577.1 LD
1.483 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.775

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
915
Data arc
92.35 years
First observed
12 January 1931
Last observed
21 May 2023
Residual RMS
0.66 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 April 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.8
10.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 274P · 274P/1931 AN · 274P/2003 WZ141 · 274P/2012 WX32

Named

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2043-03-07 17:32:00 Jupiter 0.3302 AU 128.5 LD 6 km/s
2043-03-07 17:32:00 Juptr 0.3302 AU 128.5 LD 6 km/s
2104-06-05 23:18:00 Juptr 1.1726 AU 456.4 LD 5.1 km/s
2126-03-13 20:04:00 Juptr 0.5653 AU 220.0 LD 5.5 km/s
2149-11-27 13:50:00 Juptr 0.6118 AU 238.1 LD 5.4 km/s
2175-01-08 11:16:00 Juptr 0.9213 AU 358.5 LD 5.4 km/s

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

Sources