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Comet Near-Earth

Gale

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34D/Gale

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.889 AU
True anomaly
82.26°
Distance from Earth
1.028 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 Gale — 1.889 AU from the Sun Gale
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Gale is 1.028 AU from Earth today (8.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 21m 21s
Declination
-26° 11′ 52″
Constellation
Sculptor
Distance from Earth
1.04 AU
Elongation from the Sun
137.2° — 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
4.944 AU
Eccentricity
0.7607
Inclination
11.73°
Orbital period
11 years
Perihelion
1.183 AU
Aphelion
8.704 AU
Longitude of ascending node
67.92°
Argument of periapsis
209.16°
Epoch · J2000
2429080.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.291

Orbit quality

Observations used
47
First observed
1927-??-??
Last observed
1938-??-??

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 20
10.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 34D · 1927 VI · 1927f · 1938 · 1938a · 34D/1927 L1 · 34D/1938 J1

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources