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Comet Near-Earth

Blanpain

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289P/Blanpain

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.408 AU
True anomaly
157.6°
Distance from Earth
5.23 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 Blanpain — 4.408 AU from the Sun Blanpain
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Blanpain is 5.23 AU from Earth today (43.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 10m 40s
Declination
-16° 39′ 21″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
5.24 AU
Elongation from the Sun
30.83° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.045 AU
Eccentricity
0.6851
Inclination
5.9°
Orbital period
5.31 years
Perihelion
0.959 AU
Aphelion
5.132 AU
Longitude of ascending node
68.92°
Argument of periapsis
9.85°
Epoch · J2000
2458745.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 6.5 LD
0.0167 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.817

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
356
Data arc
11.03 years
First observed
4 July 2013
Last observed
15 July 2024
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Giorgini
23 May 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
22

Discovery & classification

Also known as 289P · 289P/1819 W1

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 26 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Blanpain at 2035-11-06 14:05 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-11-06 14:05 UTC close approach of Blanpain. Catalogue miss distance 32.0 LD · 1.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-11-03 to 2035-11-09, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 32.0 LD · 1.23 × 10⁷ km 2035-11-06 14:05 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-11-06 14:05 UTC close approach of Blanpain. Catalogue miss distance 32.0 LD · 1.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-11-03 to 2035-11-09, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2035-11-06 14:05:00 Earth 0.0823 AU 32.0 LD 12.6 km/s
2042-12-09 04:09:00 Juptr 1.2154 AU 473.0 LD 9.1 km/s
2055-04-08 05:08:00 Jupiter 0.2881 AU 112.1 LD 6.1 km/s
2055-04-08 05:08:00 Juptr 0.2881 AU 112.1 LD 6.1 km/s
2067-09-12 16:03:00 Mars 0.0706 AU 27.5 LD 18.8 km/s
2067-10-23 15:02:00 Earth 0.096 AU 37.4 LD 15.7 km/s
2090-06-11 03:30:00 Juptr 0.6858 AU 266.9 LD 7.4 km/s
2102-11-28 21:06:00 Juptr 0.9916 AU 385.9 LD 8 km/s
2110-01-25 19:35:00 Mars 0.0515 AU 20.0 LD 17.6 km/s
2115-01-31 17:34:00 Earth 0.1117 AU 43.5 LD 15.1 km/s

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

Sources