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Comet

Neujmin

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42P/Neujmin 3

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.271 AU
True anomaly
92.37°
Distance from Earth
2.278 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 Neujmin — 3.271 AU from the Sun Neujmin
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Neujmin is 2.278 AU from Earth today (18.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 58m 26s
Declination
+06° 49′ 16″
Constellation
Pisces
Distance from Earth
2.28 AU
Elongation from the Sun
175.05° — near opposition — up most of the night

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
4.859 AU
Eccentricity
0.5858
Inclination
3.99°
Orbital period
10.71 years
Perihelion
2.013 AU
Aphelion
7.706 AU
Longitude of ascending node
150.31°
Argument of periapsis
147.25°
Epoch · J2000
2454670.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 388.3 LD
0.9979 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.633

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
292
Data arc
23.59 years
First observed
12 March 2003
Last observed
13 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
14 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.10 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10.8
14.6

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Neujmin, G. N.
Discovery date
2 August 1929
Discovery site
Simeis, Crimea

Also known as 42P · 1929 III · 1929b · 1951 V · 1951g · 1972 IV · 1972g · 1993 XVI

Named

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2060-03-25 13:48:00 Juptr 0.8753 AU 340.7 LD 5.9 km/s
2086-11-02 08:20:00 Juptr 0.6711 AU 261.2 LD 9.7 km/s
2093-07-15 11:09:00 Satrn 1.7393 AU 676.9 LD 3.2 km/s
2119-10-31 06:23:00 Juptr 0.7615 AU 296.4 LD 9.7 km/s
2123-02-27 00:31:00 Satrn 1.5831 AU 616.1 LD 3.2 km/s
2146-06-15 04:10:00 Juptr 0.4642 AU 180.6 LD 6.9 km/s
2146-06-15 04:10:00 Jupiter 0.4642 AU 180.6 LD 6.9 km/s
2157-11-18 03:04:00 Juptr 1.6831 AU 655.0 LD 12.1 km/s

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

Sources