Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Garradd

Add to an observing list or journal →

296P/Garradd

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.375 AU
True anomaly
286.93°
Distance from Earth
3.277 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 Garradd — 2.375 AU from the Sun Garradd
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Garradd is 3.277 AU from Earth today (27.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 56m 38s
Declination
-19° 07′ 45″
Constellation
Corvus
Distance from Earth
3.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
21.37° — 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
3.503 AU
Eccentricity
0.4773
Inclination
25.2°
Orbital period
6.56 years
Perihelion
1.831 AU
Aphelion
5.175 AU
Longitude of ascending node
263.68°
Argument of periapsis
350.03°
Epoch · J2000
2456859.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 318.9 LD
0.8194 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.79

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
333
Data arc
19.97 years
First observed
30 June 2001
Last observed
18 June 2021
Residual RMS
0.72 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 July 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 15.3
12.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 296P · 296P/2007 H3 · 296P/2014 A1

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2036-11-23 00:02:00 Juptr 0.4692 AU 182.6 LD 6.7 km/s
2036-11-23 00:02:00 Jupiter 0.4692 AU 182.6 LD 6.7 km/s
2084-03-22 04:03:00 Juptr 0.8118 AU 315.9 LD 6.8 km/s
2119-12-09 23:45:00 Juptr 0.0999 AU 38.9 LD 7.7 km/s
2119-12-09 23:45:00 Jupiter 0.0999 AU 38.9 LD 7.7 km/s

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

Sources