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Comet Near-Earth

Herschel-Rigollet

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35P/Herschel-Rigollet

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
56.383 AU
True anomaly
181.31°
Distance from Earth
57.263 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.

Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Herschel-Rigollet — 56.383 AU from the Sun Herschel-Rigollet
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Herschel-Rigollet is 57.263 AU from Earth today (7.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 52m 22s
Declination
-28° 38′ 42″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
57.26 AU
Elongation from the Sun
28.02° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
28.844 AU
Eccentricity
0.9741
Inclination
64.21°
Orbital period
155 years
Perihelion
0.748 AU
Aphelion
56.939 AU
Longitude of ascending node
355.98°
Argument of periapsis
29.3°
Epoch · J2000
2429480.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.644

Orbit quality

Observations used
75
First observed
1788-??-??
Last observed
1940-??-??

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
8.3

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Herschel, Caroline
Discovery date
21 December 1788
Discovery site
Slough

Also known as 35P · 1788 II · 1939 VI · 1939h · 35P/1788 Y1 · 35P/1939 O1

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources