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Comet Near-Earth

SOHO

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342P/SOHO

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.432 AU
True anomaly
193.15°
Distance from Earth
2.527 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 — 2.432 AU from the Sun SOHO
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. SOHO is 2.527 AU from Earth today (21.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 05m 34s
Declination
-35° 30′ 30″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
2.53 AU
Elongation from the Sun
72.53° — 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
3.043 AU
Eccentricity
0.9826
Inclination
13.27°
Orbital period
5.31 years
Perihelion
0.053 AU
Aphelion
6.033 AU
Longitude of ascending node
43.4°
Argument of periapsis
58.7°
Epoch · J2000
2457600.5
Orbit class · JFC
Jupiter-family comet (2 < T_J < 3)
Earth MOID · 51.2 LD
0.1317 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.986

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
283
Data arc
15.92 years
First observed
30 July 2000
Last observed
2 July 2016
Residual RMS
0.19 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
22 August 2016

Discovery & classification

Also known as 342P · 342P/2000 O3 · 342P/2005 W4 · 342P/2011 E1 · 342P/2016 N5

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 13 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of SOHO at 2032-06-17 06:25 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-06-17 06:25 UTC close approach of SOHO. Catalogue miss distance 99.5 LD · 3.83 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-06-14 to 2032-06-20, 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. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 99.5 LD · 3.83 × 10⁷ km 2032-06-17 06:25 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-06-17 06:25 UTC close approach of SOHO. Catalogue miss distance 99.5 LD · 3.83 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-06-14 to 2032-06-20, 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. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-06-17 06:25:00 Earth 0.2557 AU 99.5 LD 48.2 km/s
2037-07-31 04:27:00 Earth 0.2123 AU 82.6 LD 40.9 km/s
2043-12-19 20:23:00 Juptr 1.3603 AU 529.4 LD 16.4 km/s

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

Sources