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Comet

Read

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344P/Read

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.412 AU
True anomaly
294.68°
Distance from Earth
2.741 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 Read — 3.412 AU from the Sun Read
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Read is 2.741 AU from Earth today (22.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 19m 25s
Declination
-05° 57′ 12″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
2.75 AU
Elongation from the Sun
124.33° — well clear of the Sun

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
4.886 AU
Eccentricity
0.4224
Inclination
3.49°
Orbital period
10.8 years
Perihelion
2.822 AU
Aphelion
6.95 AU
Longitude of ascending node
273.25°
Argument of periapsis
140.44°
Epoch · J2000
2455804.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 713.5 LD
1.8334 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.818

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
557
Data arc
74.84 years
First observed
1 December 1951
Last observed
5 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.63 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 20.5
7.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 344P · 344P/2005 S3 · 344P/2016 Q1

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2040-07-30 04:13:00 Juptr 0.7522 AU 292.7 LD 6.6 km/s
2052-05-13 17:36:00 Juptr 0.7837 AU 305.0 LD 3.8 km/s
2066-04-01 08:11:00 Juptr 1.5163 AU 590.1 LD 4.1 km/s
2070-06-22 20:16:00 Juptr 1.9497 AU 758.8 LD 6.3 km/s
2079-08-06 11:20:00 Juptr 0.2713 AU 105.6 LD 5.5 km/s
2079-08-06 11:20:00 Jupiter 0.2713 AU 105.6 LD 5.5 km/s
2170-11-19 00:50:00 Juptr 0.9673 AU 376.4 LD 7.6 km/s

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

Sources