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Comet Near-Earth

SOHO

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323P/SOHO

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.941 AU
True anomaly
178.06°
Distance from Earth
5.468 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 — 4.941 AU from the Sun SOHO
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. SOHO is 5.468 AU from Earth today (45.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 49m 54s
Declination
+13° 54′ 21″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
5.46 AU
Elongation from the Sun
54.19° — 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
2.582 AU
Eccentricity
0.9848
Inclination
5.37°
Orbital period
4.15 years
Perihelion
0.039 AU
Aphelion
5.124 AU
Longitude of ascending node
324.23°
Argument of periapsis
353.17°
Epoch · J2000
2459276.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 8.6 LD
0.0222 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.259

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
171
Data arc
8.21 years
First observed
23 November 2016
Last observed
8 February 2025
Residual RMS
0.26 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
20 February 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
23.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 323P

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 19 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2026-12-08 19:59:00 Jupiter 0.2833 AU 110.2 LD 11.5 km/s
2033-08-27 23:17:00 Mercury 0.0646 AU 25.1 LD 70.5 km/s
2033-09-22 11:15:00 Venus 0.1012 AU 39.4 LD 55.1 km/s
2054-11-08 20:51:00 Mercury 0.0921 AU 35.8 LD 64.5 km/s
2059-02-22 10:30:00 Mercury 0.0835 AU 32.5 LD 84 km/s
2063-04-30 03:06:00 Venus 0.1191 AU 46.4 LD 55 km/s
2071-11-14 17:26:00 Venus 0.1227 AU 47.7 LD 56.1 km/s
2074-06-13 03:58:00 Jupiter 0.3771 AU 146.8 LD 12 km/s
2086-04-11 21:44:00 Jupiter 0.218 AU 84.8 LD 11.5 km/s

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

Sources