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Comet

West-Kohoutek-Ikemura

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76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.319 AU
True anomaly
83.39°
Distance from Earth
3.125 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 West-Kohoutek-Ikemura — 2.319 AU from the Sun West-Kohoutek-Ikemura
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. West-Kohoutek-Ikemura is 3.125 AU from Earth today (26.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 26m 56s
Declination
+21° 08′ 46″
Constellation
Coma Berenices
Distance from Earth
3.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
30.49° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.47 AU
Eccentricity
0.5389
Inclination
30.48°
Orbital period
6.47 years
Perihelion
1.6 AU
Aphelion
5.341 AU
Longitude of ascending node
84.12°
Argument of periapsis
0.07°
Epoch · J2000
2456259.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 239.8 LD
0.6161 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.685

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
963
Data arc
19.69 years
First observed
25 August 2006
Last observed
3 May 2026
Residual RMS
0.83 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
29 May 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.33 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7
16.4

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
West, Richard M.
Discovery date
31 December 1974
Discovery site
European Southern Obs., La Silla, Chile

Also known as 76P · 1975 IV · 1975b · 1980r · 1981 VIII · 1987 XV · 1987x · 1993 XXI

Named

Close approaches 17 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2043-06-29 03:44:00 Juptr 1.7569 AU 683.7 LD 9.5 km/s
2045-07-30 23:12:00 Mars 0.0816 AU 31.8 LD 14.8 km/s
2055-03-17 21:17:00 Jupiter 0.221 AU 86.0 LD 7.3 km/s
2055-03-17 21:17:00 Juptr 0.221 AU 86.0 LD 7.3 km/s
2067-03-04 02:52:00 Jupiter 0.498 AU 193.8 LD 7.2 km/s
2067-03-04 02:52:00 Juptr 0.498 AU 193.8 LD 7.2 km/s
2079-01-31 20:52:00 Juptr 1.5196 AU 591.4 LD 9.8 km/s
2126-05-02 23:36:00 Juptr 1.9711 AU 767.1 LD 12.5 km/s
2137-12-21 08:44:00 Juptr 0.5093 AU 198.2 LD 8.3 km/s
2149-11-02 00:50:00 Jupiter 0.1574 AU 61.3 LD 8 km/s

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

Sources