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Comet

Van Ness

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327P/Van Ness

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.352 AU
True anomaly
194.37°
Distance from Earth
6.283 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Van Ness — 5.352 AU from the Sun Van Ness
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Van Ness is 6.283 AU from Earth today (52.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 02m 41s
Declination
+03° 45′ 49″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
6.28 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.22° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
3.563 AU
Eccentricity
0.5628
Inclination
36.25°
Orbital period
6.73 years
Perihelion
1.558 AU
Aphelion
5.568 AU
Longitude of ascending node
173.97°
Argument of periapsis
185.02°
Epoch · J2000
2459118.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 215.6 LD
0.554 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.564

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
900
Data arc
20.42 years
First observed
18 August 2002
Last observed
20 January 2023
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 June 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 11.5
14.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 327P · 327P/2002 Q1 · 327P/2015 P2

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2040-05-02 03:56:00 Juptr 1.4946 AU 581.7 LD 9.3 km/s
2051-12-10 14:46:00 Juptr 0.782 AU 304.3 LD 8.4 km/s
2087-10-09 18:19:00 Juptr 1.691 AU 658.1 LD 9.5 km/s
2099-05-25 08:39:00 Juptr 1.1065 AU 430.6 LD 9 km/s
2135-02-28 15:56:00 Juptr 0.8342 AU 324.6 LD 7.9 km/s
2146-12-18 03:25:00 Juptr 1.9696 AU 766.5 LD 11.2 km/s
2182-08-24 17:54:00 Juptr 1.1127 AU 433.0 LD 8.2 km/s
2194-04-14 02:11:00 Juptr 1.2889 AU 501.6 LD 9.7 km/s

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

Sources