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Comet

La Sagra

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424P/La Sagra

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.422 AU
True anomaly
183.27°
Distance from Earth
8.35 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 La Sagra — 7.422 AU from the Sun La Sagra
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. La Sagra is 8.35 AU from Earth today (1.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 46m 14s
Declination
+00° 50′ 41″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
8.35 AU
Elongation from the Sun
20.43° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
4.401 AU
Eccentricity
0.6928
Inclination
8.64°
Orbital period
9.23 years
Perihelion
1.352 AU
Aphelion
7.449 AU
Longitude of ascending node
51.62°
Argument of periapsis
312.45°
Epoch · J2000
2457510.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 144.5 LD
0.3713 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.494

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
614
Data arc
9.37 years
First observed
23 September 2012
Last observed
4 February 2022
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 February 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
17.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 424P · 424P/2012 S2 · 424P/2021 L5

Named

Close approaches 19 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of La Sagra at 2058-10-05 03:52 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2058-10-05 03:52 UTC close approach of La Sagra. Catalogue miss distance 163.9 LD · 6.3 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2058-10-02 to 2058-10-08, 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 163.9 LD · 6.3 × 10⁷ km 2058-10-05 03:52 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2058-10-05 03:52 UTC close approach of La Sagra. Catalogue miss distance 163.9 LD · 6.3 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2058-10-02 to 2058-10-08, 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
2029-07-21 00:28:00 Juptr 1.3407 AU 521.8 LD 12 km/s
2051-03-11 14:12:00 Juptr 0.7369 AU 286.8 LD 9 km/s
2058-10-05 03:52:00 Earth 0.4212 AU 163.9 LD 5.4 km/s
2065-03-29 17:05:00 Juptr 1.3177 AU 512.8 LD 6.4 km/s
2098-07-05 03:41:00 Juptr 0.9053 AU 352.3 LD 7.2 km/s
2105-09-26 06:37:00 Earth 0.435 AU 169.3 LD 5.9 km/s
2112-10-19 18:16:00 Juptr 0.8279 AU 322.2 LD 6.9 km/s
2124-09-26 00:41:00 Earth 0.4739 AU 184.4 LD 4.9 km/s
2145-11-18 17:43:00 Juptr 0.8359 AU 325.3 LD 9.4 km/s
2172-01-10 11:23:00 Juptr 0.8569 AU 333.5 LD 10.5 km/s

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

Sources