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293P/Spacewatch

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.404 AU
True anomaly
253.51°
Distance from Earth
2.476 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 Spacewatch — 3.404 AU from the Sun Spacewatch
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Spacewatch is 2.476 AU from Earth today (20.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 43m 06s
Declination
-07° 41′ 54″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
2.48 AU
Elongation from the Sun
154.6° — 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
3.639 AU
Eccentricity
0.4197
Inclination
9.06°
Orbital period
6.94 years
Perihelion
2.112 AU
Aphelion
5.167 AU
Longitude of ascending node
78.44°
Argument of periapsis
41.15°
Epoch · J2000
2456659.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 442.6 LD
1.1374 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.929

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
463
Data arc
15.51 years
First observed
15 November 2006
Last observed
21 May 2022
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
12 June 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.5
15.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 293P · 293P/2006 XG16 · 293P/2013 R2

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2043-12-25 04:57:00 Juptr 1.1628 AU 452.5 LD 7.3 km/s
2079-07-20 13:15:00 Juptr 1.2414 AU 483.1 LD 7.5 km/s
2104-07-05 10:59:00 Juptr 1.8511 AU 720.4 LD 8.6 km/s
2140-03-22 18:36:00 Juptr 0.6717 AU 261.4 LD 4.6 km/s
2186-10-30 13:02:00 Juptr 0.5688 AU 221.4 LD 3.8 km/s

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

Sources