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Comet Near-Earth

Churyumov-Gerasimenko

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67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.766 AU
True anomaly
206.82°
Distance from Earth
5.175 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 Churyumov-Gerasimenko — 4.766 AU from the Sun Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Churyumov-Gerasimenko is 5.175 AU from Earth today (43.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 11m 01s
Declination
-27° 06′ 04″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
5.18 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.17° — 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
3.462 AU
Eccentricity
0.6409
Inclination
7.04°
Orbital period
6.44 years
Perihelion
1.243 AU
Aphelion
5.681 AU
Longitude of ascending node
50.14°
Argument of periapsis
12.8°
Epoch · J2000
2457305.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 100.0 LD
0.2569 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.746

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
8,610
Data arc
17.05 years
First observed
1 June 2008
Last observed
21 June 2025
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
4 September 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.70 km
Density
0.533 g/cm³
Rotation period
12.76 hours
GM
0 km³/s²

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.5
12.9

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Churyumov, Klim Ivanovic
Discovery date
22 October 1969
Discovery site
Alma-Ata Observatory, Russia

Also known as 67P · 1969 IV · 1969h · 1975i · 1976 VII · 1982 VIII · 1982f · 1988i

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 16 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2030-01-29 12:53:00 Juptr 1.0566 AU 411.2 LD 9 km/s
2067-10-26 10:02:00 Mars 0.0675 AU 26.3 LD 10.3 km/s
2078-06-15 15:53:00 Juptr 0.3319 AU 129.2 LD 5.8 km/s
2078-06-15 15:53:00 Jupiter 0.3319 AU 129.2 LD 5.8 km/s
2089-05-11 05:20:00 Juptr 1.7991 AU 700.2 LD 11 km/s
2125-10-13 17:04:00 Juptr 0.4022 AU 156.5 LD 5.5 km/s
2125-10-13 17:04:00 Jupiter 0.4022 AU 156.5 LD 5.5 km/s
2161-07-25 18:34:00 Juptr 0.5415 AU 210.7 LD 7.5 km/s
2172-03-01 11:06:00 Juptr 0.6383 AU 248.4 LD 7 km/s

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

Sources