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Comet

Kohoutek

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75D/Kohoutek

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.416 AU
True anomaly
243.91°
Distance from Earth
2.868 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 Kohoutek — 3.416 AU from the Sun Kohoutek
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Kohoutek is 2.868 AU from Earth today (23.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 58m 23s
Declination
-10° 50′ 25″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
2.87 AU
Elongation from the Sun
114.67° — well clear of the Sun

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
3.543 AU
Eccentricity
0.4963
Inclination
5.91°
Orbital period
6.67 years
Perihelion
1.785 AU
Aphelion
5.302 AU
Longitude of ascending node
269.69°
Argument of periapsis
175.8°
Epoch · J2000
2449520.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 311.6 LD
0.8008 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.894

Orbit quality

Observations used
81
Data arc
13.1 years
First observed
9 February 1975
Last observed
16 March 1988
Residual RMS
1.47 ″
Solution · M.S.W. Keesey
7 September 2000

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.30 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
10.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 75D · 1975 III · 1975c · 1980j · 1981 IX · 1986k · 1987 XXVII · 75D/1975 C1

Named

Close approaches 15 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-01-15 09:06:00 Juptr 0.2967 AU 115.5 LD 5.3 km/s
2032-01-15 09:06:00 Jupiter 0.2967 AU 115.5 LD 5.3 km/s
2043-12-19 12:04:00 Juptr 0.5299 AU 206.2 LD 5.7 km/s
2102-09-02 00:34:00 Juptr 0.8858 AU 344.7 LD 7.3 km/s
2114-09-03 13:50:00 Juptr 0.1817 AU 70.7 LD 5.6 km/s
2114-09-03 13:50:00 Jupiter 0.1817 AU 70.7 LD 5.6 km/s
2174-04-02 18:09:00 Juptr 0.0738 AU 28.7 LD 6.2 km/s
2174-04-02 18:09:00 Jupiter 0.0738 AU 28.7 LD 6.2 km/s
2197-12-29 22:41:00 Juptr 0.7148 AU 278.2 LD 6.1 km/s

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

Sources