Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Christensen

Add to an observing list or journal →

383P/Christensen

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.31 AU
True anomaly
94.9°
Distance from Earth
1.971 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 Christensen — 2.31 AU from the Sun Christensen
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Christensen is 1.971 AU from Earth today (16.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 47m 38s
Declination
+13° 25′ 38″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
1.97 AU
Elongation from the Sun
97.24° — 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
3.497 AU
Eccentricity
0.6115
Inclination
11.87°
Orbital period
6.54 years
Perihelion
1.359 AU
Aphelion
5.636 AU
Longitude of ascending node
213.63°
Argument of periapsis
128.07°
Epoch · J2000
2454529.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 153.3 LD
0.3938 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.758

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
349
Data arc
19.92 years
First observed
23 August 2006
Last observed
25 July 2026
Residual RMS
0.68 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 July 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.5
18.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 383P · 383P/2006 S1 · 383P/2019 M1

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2063-12-20 15:37:00 Juptr 0.7977 AU 310.4 LD 5.3 km/s
2111-07-21 01:15:00 Juptr 0.6289 AU 244.7 LD 6.7 km/s
2122-03-17 08:07:00 Juptr 1.6994 AU 661.4 LD 7.7 km/s
2170-09-16 18:06:00 Juptr 0.793 AU 308.6 LD 5.3 km/s

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

Sources