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Comet

Bus

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87P/Bus

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.104 AU
True anomaly
5.9°
Distance from Earth
3.082 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 Bus — 2.104 AU from the Sun Bus
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Bus is 3.082 AU from Earth today (25.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 46m 41s
Declination
-10° 02′ 12″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
3.08 AU
Elongation from the Sun
9.35° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
3.441 AU
Eccentricity
0.3893
Inclination
2.6°
Orbital period
6.38 years
Perihelion
2.101 AU
Aphelion
4.781 AU
Longitude of ascending node
181.89°
Argument of periapsis
24.76°
Epoch · J2000
2457467.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 427.2 LD
1.0978 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.009

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
667
Data arc
20.81 years
First observed
13 November 1999
Last observed
5 September 2020
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
28 September 2020

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.28 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14
12.7

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Bus, Schelte J.
Discovery date
2 March 1981
Discovery site
U. K. Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring

Also known as 87P · 1981 XI · 1981b · 1987 XXXIV · 1987f · 1993b · 1994 XVI · 87P/1981 E1

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-11-29 01:51:00 Juptr 1.3564 AU 527.9 LD 2.8 km/s
2070-05-08 07:26:00 Juptr 1.5513 AU 603.7 LD 6.8 km/s
2077-04-25 09:00:00 Juptr 1.522 AU 592.3 LD 3.8 km/s
2084-08-09 17:05:00 Juptr 1.8415 AU 716.7 LD 7.3 km/s
2129-03-11 20:15:00 Juptr 0.017 AU 6.6 LD 10.2 km/s
2129-03-11 20:15:00 Jupiter 0.017 AU 6.6 LD 10.2 km/s

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

Sources