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Comet

Christensen

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286P/Christensen

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.843 AU
True anomaly
185.17°
Distance from Earth
6.148 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 Christensen — 5.843 AU from the Sun Christensen
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Christensen is 6.148 AU from Earth today (51.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 26m 48s
Declination
+06° 37′ 38″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
6.14 AU
Elongation from the Sun
68.22° — well clear of the Sun

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
4.115 AU
Eccentricity
0.4242
Inclination
17.04°
Orbital period
8.35 years
Perihelion
2.37 AU
Aphelion
5.861 AU
Longitude of ascending node
283.95°
Argument of periapsis
24.69°
Epoch · J2000
2458231.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 531.5 LD
1.3657 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.804

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
470
Data arc
17.49 years
First observed
3 June 2005
Last observed
30 November 2022
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 June 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16

Discovery & classification

Also known as 286P · 286P/2005 L4 · 286P/2013 K3

Named

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2049-04-03 00:26:00 Juptr 0.1693 AU 65.9 LD 6.4 km/s
2049-04-03 00:26:00 Jupiter 0.1693 AU 65.9 LD 6.4 km/s
2054-08-23 17:50:00 Juptr 1.9993 AU 778.1 LD 7.4 km/s
2097-06-15 10:31:00 Juptr 1.4526 AU 565.3 LD 5.4 km/s
2132-02-23 04:35:00 Juptr 0.1475 AU 57.4 LD 6.4 km/s
2132-02-23 04:35:00 Jupiter 0.1475 AU 57.4 LD 6.4 km/s
2191-04-09 04:56:00 Juptr 0.5962 AU 232.0 LD 6.2 km/s

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

Sources