Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Montani

Add to an observing list or journal →

314P/Montani

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
10.297 AU
True anomaly
181.92°
Distance from Earth
10.317 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Montani — 10.297 AU from the Sun Montani
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Montani is 10.317 AU from Earth today (1.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 56m 07s
Declination
-18° 25′ 23″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
10.32 AU
Elongation from the Sun
85.98° — well clear of the Sun

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
7.275 AU
Eccentricity
0.416
Inclination
3.98°
Orbital period
19.62 years
Perihelion
4.249 AU
Aphelion
10.302 AU
Longitude of ascending node
267.7°
Argument of periapsis
213.41°
Epoch · J2000
2455855.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,270.8 LD
3.2654 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.861

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
384
Data arc
20.78 years
First observed
9 April 1997
Last observed
18 January 2018
Residual RMS
0.61 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 5.5
12.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 314P · 314P/1997 G1 · 314P/2014 U1

Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2077-02-18 16:46:00 Juptr 1.5117 AU 588.3 LD 8.6 km/s
2155-01-27 05:01:00 Jupiter 0.2061 AU 80.2 LD 5.7 km/s
2155-01-27 05:01:00 Juptr 0.2061 AU 80.2 LD 5.7 km/s
2165-01-09 01:35:00 Satrn 1.2118 AU 471.6 LD 2.9 km/s

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

Sources