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Comet

duToit-Neujmin-Delporte

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57P/duToit-Neujmin-Delporte-A

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.013 AU
True anomaly
224.83°
Distance from Earth
4.907 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 duToit-Neujmin-Delporte — 4.013 AU from the Sun duToit-Neujmin-Delporte
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. duToit-Neujmin-Delporte is 4.907 AU from Earth today (40.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 40m 01s
Declination
+01° 18′ 02″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
4.9 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.12° — 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
3.452 AU
Eccentricity
0.499
Inclination
2.84°
Orbital period
6.41 years
Perihelion
1.729 AU
Aphelion
5.175 AU
Longitude of ascending node
188.93°
Argument of periapsis
115.23°
Epoch · J2000
2452640.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 278.2 LD
0.7147 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.917

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
533
Data arc
13.54 years
First observed
22 May 1989
Last observed
6 December 2002
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · M.S.W. Keesey
8 October 2004

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 26
8.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 57P-A

Named

Close approaches 14 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2038-09-11 01:28:00 Juptr 1.2381 AU 481.8 LD 7.4 km/s
2050-06-17 05:55:00 Juptr 0.3537 AU 137.7 LD 4.7 km/s
2050-06-17 05:55:00 Jupiter 0.3537 AU 137.7 LD 4.7 km/s
2062-06-16 20:58:00 Juptr 0.6112 AU 237.9 LD 5.7 km/s
2121-04-16 23:38:00 Juptr 1.1979 AU 466.2 LD 6.9 km/s
2133-06-11 19:11:00 Juptr 0.3645 AU 141.8 LD 4.7 km/s
2133-06-11 19:11:00 Jupiter 0.3645 AU 141.8 LD 4.7 km/s
2145-07-16 02:49:00 Juptr 0.3729 AU 145.1 LD 5.1 km/s
2145-07-16 02:49:00 Jupiter 0.3729 AU 145.1 LD 5.1 km/s
2157-05-08 01:29:00 Juptr 1.9057 AU 741.6 LD 9.8 km/s

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

Sources