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Comet

Tsuchinshan

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62P/Tsuchinshan 1

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.32 AU
True anomaly
168.02°
Distance from Earth
5.414 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 Tsuchinshan — 5.32 AU from the Sun Tsuchinshan
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Tsuchinshan is 5.414 AU from Earth today (45.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 34m 38s
Declination
-26° 11′ 54″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
5.42 AU
Elongation from the Sun
78.83° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
3.438 AU
Eccentricity
0.5975
Inclination
9.71°
Orbital period
6.37 years
Perihelion
1.384 AU
Aphelion
5.492 AU
Longitude of ascending node
90.24°
Argument of periapsis
30.35°
Epoch · J2000
2458054.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 160.0 LD
0.4111 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.798

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
3,392
Data arc
19.71 years
First observed
14 September 2004
Last observed
1 June 2024
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
14 March 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.8
13.3

Discovery & classification

Discovery date
1 January 1965
Discovery site
Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanking

Also known as 62P · 1965 I · 1965b · 1971 VIII · 1971f · 1978 IX · 1978e · 1984p

Named

Close approaches 19 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-12-30 07:24:00 Juptr 0.8181 AU 318.4 LD 8.7 km/s
2049-04-01 08:41:00 Mars 0.0185 AU 7.2 LD 12.1 km/s
2081-11-10 19:57:00 Mars 0.0907 AU 35.3 LD 12.9 km/s
2092-07-23 09:15:00 Juptr 0.5169 AU 201.2 LD 7.5 km/s
2104-05-05 10:54:00 Juptr 0.2995 AU 116.6 LD 6.6 km/s
2104-05-05 10:54:00 Jupiter 0.2995 AU 116.6 LD 6.6 km/s
2116-03-27 21:41:00 Juptr 0.5449 AU 212.1 LD 7.7 km/s
2174-09-18 11:31:00 Juptr 0.9242 AU 359.7 LD 8.3 km/s
2186-12-04 09:32:00 Jupiter 0.4626 AU 180.0 LD 6.1 km/s
2186-12-04 09:32:00 Juptr 0.4626 AU 180.0 LD 6.1 km/s

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

Sources