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Comet

Ashbrook-Jackson

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47P/Ashbrook-Jackson

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.425 AU
True anomaly
75.12°
Distance from Earth
2.76 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 Ashbrook-Jackson — 3.425 AU from the Sun Ashbrook-Jackson
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Ashbrook-Jackson is 2.76 AU from Earth today (23.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
05h 26m 05s
Declination
+38° 47′ 42″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
2.75 AU
Elongation from the Sun
125.22° — 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
4.123 AU
Eccentricity
0.3185
Inclination
13.04°
Orbital period
8.37 years
Perihelion
2.81 AU
Aphelion
5.437 AU
Longitude of ascending node
356.92°
Argument of periapsis
357.66°
Epoch · J2000
2459558.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 702.2 LD
1.8042 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.906

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,403
Data arc
12.45 years
First observed
5 April 2014
Last observed
18 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.67 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
21 September 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.80 km
Rotation period
15.6 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.8
13.1

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Ashbrook, Joseph
Discovery date
26 August 1948
Discovery site
Lowell Observatory, Arizona

Also known as 47P · 1948 IX · 1948i · 1955c · 1956 II · 1963 VI · 1970e · 1971 III

Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2060-10-15 03:01:00 Juptr 1.7815 AU 693.3 LD 2.2 km/s
2064-02-17 19:43:00 Juptr 0.7565 AU 294.4 LD 4.6 km/s
2146-05-27 16:50:00 Juptr 0.7401 AU 288.0 LD 4.9 km/s
2150-04-18 04:28:00 Juptr 1.849 AU 719.6 LD 3.4 km/s

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

Sources