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Comet

Reinmuth

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44P/Reinmuth 2

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.986 AU
True anomaly
202.31°
Distance from Earth
5.914 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 Reinmuth — 4.986 AU from the Sun Reinmuth
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Reinmuth is 5.914 AU from Earth today (49.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 31m 25s
Declination
-08° 43′ 38″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
5.91 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.69° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
3.689 AU
Eccentricity
0.427
Inclination
5.9°
Orbital period
7.09 years
Perihelion
2.114 AU
Aphelion
5.264 AU
Longitude of ascending node
286.48°
Argument of periapsis
58.12°
Epoch · J2000
2458939.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 433.0 LD
1.1127 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.925

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,496
Data arc
9.87 years
First observed
1 May 2014
Last observed
14 March 2024
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
20 March 2024

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.61 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 5.5
14

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Reinmuth, Karl
Discovery date
10 September 1947
Discovery site
Heidelberg, Germany

Also known as 44P · 1947 VII · 1947j · 1953d · 1954 VI · 1960 IX · 1960c · 1967 XI

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2039-02-11 00:49:00 Juptr 0.5241 AU 204.0 LD 4 km/s
2063-07-21 06:13:00 Jupiter 0.4387 AU 170.7 LD 3 km/s
2063-07-21 06:13:00 Juptr 0.4387 AU 170.7 LD 3 km/s
2086-06-07 05:47:00 Juptr 1.5059 AU 586.1 LD 5.9 km/s
2090-11-26 08:04:00 Juptr 1.9073 AU 742.3 LD 3.9 km/s
2146-03-03 16:59:00 Juptr 0.517 AU 201.2 LD 3 km/s
2192-10-07 16:48:00 Juptr 1.3601 AU 529.3 LD 4.6 km/s
2198-11-26 05:33:00 Juptr 1.2972 AU 504.8 LD 3.7 km/s

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

Sources