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Comet Near-Earth

du Toit

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66P/du Toit

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
10.625 AU
True anomaly
184.76°
Distance from Earth
10.593 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 du Toit — 10.625 AU from the Sun du Toit
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. du Toit is 10.593 AU from Earth today (1.5 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 37m 29s
Declination
+40° 22′ 38″
Constellation
Lynx
Distance from Earth
10.58 AU
Elongation from the Sun
89.73° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
6.023 AU
Eccentricity
0.7866
Inclination
18.67°
Orbital period
14.78 years
Perihelion
1.285 AU
Aphelion
10.76 AU
Longitude of ascending node
22°
Argument of periapsis
257.34°
Epoch · J2000
2456961.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 170.6 LD
0.4383 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.123

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
547
Data arc
44.64 years
First observed
22 March 1974
Last observed
10 November 2018
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
3 June 2019

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7
15.7

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
du Toit, D.
Discovery date
16 May 1944
Discovery site
Boyden Observatory, South Africa

Also known as 66P · 1944 III · 1944c · 1974 IV · 66P/1944 K1 · 66P/1974 F2

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 3 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of du Toit at 2136-06-12 16:14 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2136-06-12 16:14 UTC close approach of du Toit. Catalogue miss distance 176.1 LD · 6.77 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2136-06-09 to 2136-06-15, 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. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 176.1 LD · 6.77 × 10⁷ km 2136-06-12 16:14 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2136-06-12 16:14 UTC close approach of du Toit. Catalogue miss distance 176.1 LD · 6.77 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2136-06-09 to 2136-06-15, 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. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2136-06-12 16:14:00 Earth 0.4526 AU 176.1 LD 8.3 km/s
2151-06-13 23:27:00 Earth 0.4581 AU 178.3 LD 8.4 km/s

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

Sources