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Comet

Faye

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4P/Faye

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.355 AU
True anomaly
204.22°
Distance from Earth
6.189 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 Faye — 5.355 AU from the Sun Faye
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Faye is 6.189 AU from Earth today (51.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 53m 45s
Declination
-14° 44′ 26″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
6.19 AU
Elongation from the Sun
30.09° — 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
3.798 AU
Eccentricity
0.5845
Inclination
8.16°
Orbital period
7.4 years
Perihelion
1.578 AU
Aphelion
6.018 AU
Longitude of ascending node
194.79°
Argument of periapsis
206°
Epoch · J2000
2458523.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 229.3 LD
0.5893 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.742

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
3,565
Data arc
9.84 years
First observed
23 May 2013
Last observed
25 March 2023
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
20 July 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.77 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 9.5
11

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Faye, Herve
Discovery date
23 November 1843
Discovery site
Paris, France

Also known as 4P · 1843 III · 1851 I · 1858 V · 1866 II · 1873 III · 1873f · 1880c

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2042-05-14 03:58:00 Juptr 1.9046 AU 741.2 LD 10.5 km/s
2076-12-28 07:31:00 Juptr 0.5118 AU 199.2 LD 5.1 km/s
2112-01-24 22:31:00 Juptr 0.8244 AU 320.9 LD 8.1 km/s
2136-08-06 21:45:00 Juptr 0.669 AU 260.4 LD 5 km/s
2160-12-06 07:08:00 Juptr 1.2385 AU 482.0 LD 8.8 km/s
2195-03-16 03:23:00 Jupiter 0.4063 AU 158.1 LD 5.3 km/s
2195-03-16 03:23:00 Juptr 0.4063 AU 158.1 LD 5.3 km/s

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

Sources