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Comet

Scotti

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430P/Scotti

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.523 AU
True anomaly
261.25°
Distance from Earth
1.759 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 Scotti — 2.523 AU from the Sun Scotti
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Scotti is 1.759 AU from Earth today (14.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
04h 25m 34s
Declination
+21° 12′ 38″
Constellation
Taurus
Distance from Earth
1.75 AU
Elongation from the Sun
131.09° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.107 AU
Eccentricity
0.4997
Inclination
4.47°
Orbital period
5.48 years
Perihelion
1.554 AU
Aphelion
4.659 AU
Longitude of ascending node
54.69°
Argument of periapsis
94.57°
Epoch · J2000
2456799.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 223.5 LD
0.5744 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.009

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
314
Data arc
10.92 years
First observed
11 January 2011
Last observed
13 December 2021
Residual RMS
0.81 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 June 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 5.5
16.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 430P · 430P/2011 A2 · 430P/2021 Q2

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2057-02-15 17:07:00 Juptr 0.722 AU 281.0 LD 5.1 km/s
2069-03-05 12:58:00 Juptr 0.4102 AU 159.6 LD 4 km/s
2069-03-05 12:58:00 Jupiter 0.4102 AU 159.6 LD 4 km/s

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

Sources