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Comet Near-Earth

Boattini

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387P/Boattini

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.603 AU
True anomaly
195.05°
Distance from Earth
8.165 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 Boattini — 7.603 AU from the Sun Boattini
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Boattini is 8.165 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 38m 43s
Declination
-22° 26′ 16″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
8.17 AU
Elongation from the Sun
52.19° — 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
4.799 AU
Eccentricity
0.736
Inclination
8.9°
Orbital period
10.51 years
Perihelion
1.267 AU
Aphelion
8.331 AU
Longitude of ascending node
259.36°
Argument of periapsis
162.78°
Epoch · J2000
2457120.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 111.1 LD
0.2855 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.369

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
347
Data arc
11.1 years
First observed
22 December 2008
Last observed
29 January 2020
Residual RMS
0.74 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 May 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 20
14.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 387P · 387P/2008 Y1 · 387P/2019 R1

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 12 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Boattini at 2163-11-27 11:17 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2163-11-27 11:17 UTC close approach of Boattini. Catalogue miss distance 67.7 LD · 2.6 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2163-11-24 to 2163-11-30, 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 a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 67.7 LD · 2.6 × 10⁷ km 2163-11-27 11:17 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2163-11-27 11:17 UTC close approach of Boattini. Catalogue miss distance 67.7 LD · 2.6 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2163-11-24 to 2163-11-30, 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 a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2053-02-10 05:37:00 Juptr 0.9097 AU 354.0 LD 8.8 km/s
2091-01-27 03:35:00 Juptr 0.9053 AU 352.3 LD 11.9 km/s
2124-09-11 01:29:00 Juptr 1.5277 AU 594.6 LD 13.2 km/s
2162-05-08 02:54:00 Jupiter 0.4902 AU 190.8 LD 10.5 km/s
2162-05-08 02:54:00 Juptr 0.4902 AU 190.8 LD 10.5 km/s
2163-11-27 11:17:00 Earth 0.1739 AU 67.7 LD 8.1 km/s
2195-08-14 21:43:00 Juptr 1.0403 AU 404.9 LD 8.1 km/s

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

Sources