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Comet Near-Earth

SOHO

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322P/SOHO

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.921 AU
True anomaly
186.22°
Distance from Earth
4.756 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 SOHO — 3.921 AU from the Sun SOHO
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. SOHO is 4.756 AU from Earth today (39.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 48m 09s
Declination
-25° 04′ 14″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
4.76 AU
Elongation from the Sun
29.25° — 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
2.516 AU
Eccentricity
0.9787
Inclination
12.59°
Orbital period
3.99 years
Perihelion
0.054 AU
Aphelion
4.979 AU
Longitude of ascending node
359.52°
Argument of periapsis
49.05°
Epoch · J2000
2457179.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 35.9 LD
0.0922 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.347

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
318
Data arc
15.93 years
First observed
4 September 1999
Last observed
8 August 2015
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
27 October 2016

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
19

Discovery & classification

Also known as 322P · 322P/1999 R1 · 322P/2003 R5 · 322P/2007 R5 · 322P/2011 R4

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 46 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of SOHO at 2031-06-19 10:37 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-06-19 10:37 UTC close approach of SOHO. Catalogue miss distance 187.8 LD · 7.22 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-06-16 to 2031-06-22, 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 a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 187.8 LD · 7.22 × 10⁷ km 2031-06-19 10:37 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-06-19 10:37 UTC close approach of SOHO. Catalogue miss distance 187.8 LD · 7.22 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-06-16 to 2031-06-22, 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 a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-08-20 03:10:00 Merc 0.0923 AU 35.9 LD 46.4 km/s
2027-08-20 03:10:00 Mercury 0.0923 AU 35.9 LD 46.4 km/s
2030-03-12 01:37:00 Juptr 1.2309 AU 479.1 LD 11.7 km/s
2031-06-19 10:37:00 Earth 0.4826 AU 187.8 LD 30.3 km/s
2031-07-23 05:36:00 Mercury 0.0779 AU 30.3 LD 64.1 km/s
2031-07-23 05:36:00 Merc 0.0779 AU 30.3 LD 64.1 km/s
2035-06-10 12:54:00 Earth 0.271 AU 105.5 LD 36.4 km/s
2039-05-31 10:00:00 Earth 0.187 AU 72.8 LD 43.1 km/s
2042-01-20 15:31:00 Juptr 1.2262 AU 477.2 LD 11.7 km/s
2043-05-20 07:50:00 Earth 0.3005 AU 116.9 LD 50.1 km/s

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

Sources