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Comet Near-Earth

Brorsen

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5D/Brorsen

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.802 AU
True anomaly
65.87°
Distance from Earth
1.728 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 Brorsen — 0.802 AU from the Sun Brorsen
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Brorsen is 1.728 AU from Earth today (14.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 07m 05s
Declination
+07° 03′ 28″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.74 AU
Elongation from the Sun
14.55° — 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
3.101 AU
Eccentricity
0.8098
Inclination
29.38°
Orbital period
5.46 years
Perihelion
0.59 AU
Aphelion
5.612 AU
Longitude of ascending node
102.97°
Argument of periapsis
14.95°
Epoch · J2000
2407440.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 142.7 LD
0.3666 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.467

Orbit quality

Observations used
127

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
8.3

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Brorsen, T.
Discovery date
26 February 1846
Discovery site
Kiel, Germany

Also known as 5D · 1846 III · 1857 II · 1868 I · 1873 VI · 1873e · 1879 I · 1879a

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources