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Comet

Daniel

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33P/Daniel

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.869 AU
True anomaly
139.23°
Distance from Earth
5.82 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 Daniel — 4.869 AU from the Sun Daniel
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Daniel is 5.82 AU from Earth today (48.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 52m 29s
Declination
-09° 26′ 40″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
5.82 AU
Elongation from the Sun
15.2° — 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
4.024 AU
Eccentricity
0.4632
Inclination
22.39°
Orbital period
8.07 years
Perihelion
2.16 AU
Aphelion
5.888 AU
Longitude of ascending node
66.49°
Argument of periapsis
19.06°
Epoch · J2000
2457411.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 461.6 LD
1.1861 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.734

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
773
Data arc
24.36 years
First observed
22 December 2000
Last observed
2 May 2025
Residual RMS
0.74 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
9 May 2025

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.30 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.5

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Daniel, Zaccheus
Discovery date
7 December 1909
Discovery site
Princeton University, New Jersey

Also known as 33P · 1909 IV · 1909e · 1937 I · 1937a · 1943 IV · 1950 V · 1950d

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2079-04-04 20:49:00 Juptr 1.3612 AU 529.8 LD 5.6 km/s
2102-03-15 18:36:00 Juptr 0.8617 AU 335.4 LD 5.5 km/s
2126-02-07 01:53:00 Juptr 1.0071 AU 391.9 LD 5.5 km/s
2150-08-07 05:18:00 Juptr 1.4108 AU 549.1 LD 6.4 km/s

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

Sources