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461P/WISE

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.38 AU
True anomaly
258.87°
Distance from Earth
2.88 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 WISE — 2.38 AU from the Sun WISE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. WISE is 2.88 AU from Earth today (24.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 33m 58s
Declination
-07° 19′ 34″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
2.88 AU
Elongation from the Sun
50.55° — 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
3.139 AU
Eccentricity
0.5704
Inclination
18.41°
Orbital period
5.56 years
Perihelion
1.349 AU
Aphelion
4.929 AU
Longitude of ascending node
194.4°
Argument of periapsis
174.78°
Epoch · J2000
2458948.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 136.6 LD
0.351 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.868

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
756
Data arc
11.51 years
First observed
25 July 2010
Last observed
28 January 2022
Residual RMS
0.3 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 April 2024

Physical properties

Rotation period
4.03 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.8
17.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 461P · 461P/2010 OE101 · 461P/2021 LJ31

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2040-10-03 02:30:00 Juptr 1.5872 AU 617.7 LD 7.3 km/s
2052-08-09 20:09:00 Juptr 0.7896 AU 307.3 LD 5.3 km/s
2064-06-28 21:45:00 Juptr 0.8015 AU 311.9 LD 5.3 km/s
2076-06-21 08:41:00 Juptr 1.8592 AU 723.6 LD 7.8 km/s
2147-06-26 13:23:00 Juptr 1.883 AU 732.8 LD 8.1 km/s
2159-06-30 15:47:00 Juptr 0.7886 AU 306.9 LD 5.5 km/s
2171-05-15 19:09:00 Juptr 0.771 AU 300.1 LD 5.5 km/s
2183-03-08 02:45:00 Juptr 1.6198 AU 630.4 LD 7.6 km/s

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

Sources