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Comet Near-Earth

Rankin

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501P/Rankin

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.12 AU
True anomaly
205.05°
Distance from Earth
2.226 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 Rankin — 3.12 AU from the Sun Rankin
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Rankin is 2.226 AU from Earth today (18.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
03h 13m 48s
Declination
+03° 30′ 27″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
2.22 AU
Elongation from the Sun
149.02° — well clear of the Sun

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
2.236 AU
Eccentricity
0.6957
Inclination
10.1°
Orbital period
3.34 years
Perihelion
0.68 AU
Aphelion
3.791 AU
Longitude of ascending node
140.49°
Argument of periapsis
52.8°
Epoch · J2000
2459723.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 24.8 LD
0.0638 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.254

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
98
Data arc
19.94 years
First observed
19 August 2004
Last observed
29 July 2024
Residual RMS
0.3 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 July 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
21.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 501P · 501P/2014 N4 · 501P/2017 B6 · 501P/2024 L4

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 29 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Rankin at 2114-06-20 23:22 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2114-06-20 23:22 UTC close approach of Rankin. Catalogue miss distance 59.2 LD · 2.27 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2114-06-17 to 2114-06-23, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 59.2 LD · 2.27 × 10⁷ km 2114-06-20 23:22 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2114-06-20 23:22 UTC close approach of Rankin. Catalogue miss distance 59.2 LD · 2.27 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2114-06-17 to 2114-06-23, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2058-11-25 07:03:00 Juptr 1.8984 AU 738.8 LD 8.5 km/s
2060-11-06 22:19:00 Venus 0.0708 AU 27.5 LD 18 km/s
2077-08-10 18:33:00 Venus 0.1302 AU 50.7 LD 17.3 km/s
2082-05-31 06:13:00 Juptr 1.3571 AU 528.1 LD 6 km/s
2106-01-03 09:52:00 Juptr 1.2937 AU 503.5 LD 5.4 km/s
2107-08-18 03:23:00 Venus 0.0135 AU 5.2 LD 14.8 km/s
2114-06-20 23:22:00 Earth 0.152 AU 59.2 LD 16.4 km/s
2124-06-25 16:18:00 Earth 0.1151 AU 44.8 LD 18.4 km/s
2129-07-29 02:20:00 Juptr 1.6751 AU 651.9 LD 7.1 km/s
2130-12-26 00:05:00 Venus 0.0614 AU 23.9 LD 18.2 km/s

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

Sources