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Comet

Gehrels

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82P/Gehrels 3

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.627 AU
True anomaly
355.26°
Distance from Earth
3.469 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Gehrels — 3.627 AU from the Sun Gehrels
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Gehrels is 3.469 AU from Earth today (28.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 01m 08s
Declination
+19° 42′ 23″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
3.46 AU
Elongation from the Sun
91.58° — 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
4.135 AU
Eccentricity
0.1233
Inclination
1.13°
Orbital period
8.41 years
Perihelion
3.626 AU
Aphelion
4.645 AU
Longitude of ascending node
239.59°
Argument of periapsis
227.5°
Epoch · J2000
2452484.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 1,028.7 LD
2.6434 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.027

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
143
Data arc
44.56 years
First observed
27 October 1975
Last observed
20 May 2020
Residual RMS
0.63 ″
Solution · Javier Roa
19 March 2021

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.73 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 18.5
7.6

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Gehrels, Tom
Discovery date
27 October 1975
Discovery site
Palomar Mountain Observatory, California

Also known as 82P · 1975o · 1977 VII · 1984l · 1985 IV · 1992v · 1993 XIV · 82P/1975 U1

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-04-03 01:02:00 Juptr 1.5473 AU 602.2 LD 3 km/s
2057-08-08 07:54:00 Jupiter 0.1232 AU 47.9 LD 3.4 km/s
2057-08-08 07:54:00 Juptr 0.1232 AU 47.9 LD 3.4 km/s
2060-03-31 19:26:00 Juptr 0.4188 AU 163.0 LD 0.7 km/s
2060-03-31 19:26:00 Jupiter 0.4188 AU 163.0 LD 0.7 km/s

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

Sources