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Comet

Christensen

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298P/Christensen

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.054 AU
True anomaly
5.73°
Distance from Earth
2.887 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 Christensen — 2.054 AU from the Sun Christensen
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Christensen is 2.887 AU from Earth today (24.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 38m 52s
Declination
+08° 22′ 22″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
2.88 AU
Elongation from the Sun
27.78° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.49 AU
Eccentricity
0.4125
Inclination
8.02°
Orbital period
6.52 years
Perihelion
2.051 AU
Aphelion
4.93 AU
Longitude of ascending node
57.12°
Argument of periapsis
95.62°
Epoch · J2000
2454341.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 420.9 LD
1.0815 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.968

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
145
Data arc
7.14 years
First observed
9 February 2007
Last observed
1 April 2014
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 8.3
16.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 298P · 298P/2007 C1 · 298P/2014 C4

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2056-12-08 00:24:00 Juptr 1.1192 AU 435.6 LD 6.3 km/s
2093-04-12 07:28:00 Juptr 0.4889 AU 190.2 LD 3.5 km/s
2093-04-12 07:28:00 Jupiter 0.4889 AU 190.2 LD 3.5 km/s
2152-12-19 01:54:00 Juptr 0.448 AU 174.4 LD 5 km/s
2152-12-19 01:54:00 Jupiter 0.448 AU 174.4 LD 5 km/s

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

Sources