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Comet

Jackson-Neujmin

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58P/Jackson-Neujmin

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.488 AU
True anomaly
208.61°
Distance from Earth
6.47 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 Jackson-Neujmin — 5.488 AU from the Sun Jackson-Neujmin
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Jackson-Neujmin is 6.47 AU from Earth today (53.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 00m 11s
Declination
-03° 06′ 23″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
6.47 AU
Elongation from the Sun
8.62° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
4.09 AU
Eccentricity
0.6605
Inclination
13.46°
Orbital period
8.27 years
Perihelion
1.389 AU
Aphelion
6.792 AU
Longitude of ascending node
160.61°
Argument of periapsis
200.44°
Epoch · J2000
2452996.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 152.5 LD
0.3917 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.567

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
378
Data arc
25.51 years
First observed
22 May 1995
Last observed
23 November 2020
Residual RMS
0.88 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
20 August 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.8
14.3

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Jackson, Cyril
Discovery date
20 September 1936
Discovery site
Union Observatory, South Africa

Also known as 58P · 1936 IV · 1936c · 1970 IX · 1970k · 1978 XXVI · 1978q · 1987 VIII

Named

Close approaches 15 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2039-05-31 23:50:00 Juptr 0.7106 AU 276.6 LD 6.6 km/s
2062-12-26 19:31:00 Jupiter 0.4042 AU 157.3 LD 8.5 km/s
2062-12-26 19:31:00 Juptr 0.4042 AU 157.3 LD 8.5 km/s
2099-08-03 16:26:00 Juptr 1.4916 AU 580.5 LD 6.1 km/s
2122-07-27 17:58:00 Juptr 1.7838 AU 694.2 LD 12.1 km/s
2136-03-28 07:36:00 Juptr 1.1468 AU 446.3 LD 8.4 km/s
2158-03-20 03:14:00 Juptr 1.1164 AU 434.5 LD 6.2 km/s
2181-12-02 12:49:00 Juptr 1.9491 AU 758.5 LD 12.6 km/s
2195-06-03 13:01:00 Juptr 1.3122 AU 510.7 LD 9.4 km/s

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

Sources