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Comet

Howell

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88P/Howell

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.419 AU
True anomaly
102.82°
Distance from Earth
1.495 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 Howell — 2.419 AU from the Sun Howell
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Howell is 1.495 AU from Earth today (12.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
02h 59m 27s
Declination
+14° 20′ 21″
Constellation
Aries
Distance from Earth
1.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
152.44° — 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
3.105 AU
Eccentricity
0.5643
Inclination
4.38°
Orbital period
5.47 years
Perihelion
1.353 AU
Aphelion
4.858 AU
Longitude of ascending node
56.68°
Argument of periapsis
235.9°
Epoch · J2000
2459235.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 134.1 LD
0.3445 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.947

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
3,941
Data arc
12.69 years
First observed
29 January 2014
Last observed
9 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
9 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.20 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10.5
11.4

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Howell, Ellen
Discovery date
29 August 1981
Discovery site
Palomar Mountain Observatory, California

Also known as 88P · 1981 X · 1981k · 1987 VI · 1987h · 1992c · 1993 II · 88P/1981 Q1

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-09-14 16:28:00 Mars 0.0737 AU 28.7 LD 6.4 km/s
2031-09-14 16:29:00 Mars 0.0737 AU 28.7 LD 6.4 km/s
2061-05-11 17:33:00 Juptr 0.7116 AU 276.9 LD 5.3 km/s
2073-04-17 15:01:00 Juptr 0.4819 AU 187.5 LD 4.5 km/s
2073-04-17 15:02:00 Jupiter 0.4819 AU 187.5 LD 4.5 km/s
2145-03-28 21:17:00 Juptr 0.6014 AU 234.0 LD 5.2 km/s
2157-02-06 23:28:00 Juptr 0.5673 AU 220.8 LD 5.1 km/s

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

Sources