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Comet

Russell

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94P/Russell 4

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.788 AU
True anomaly
182.28°
Distance from Earth
3.988 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 Russell — 4.788 AU from the Sun Russell
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Russell is 3.988 AU from Earth today (33.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 50m 13s
Declination
-15° 23′ 49″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
3.99 AU
Elongation from the Sun
138.5° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
3.511 AU
Eccentricity
0.3641
Inclination
6.18°
Orbital period
6.58 years
Perihelion
2.233 AU
Aphelion
4.79 AU
Longitude of ascending node
70.9°
Argument of periapsis
92.69°
Epoch · J2000
2456781.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 486.7 LD
1.2506 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.003

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,200
Data arc
75.27 years
First observed
10 May 1950
Last observed
16 August 2025
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
6 May 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
20.7 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 9
13.4

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Russell, Kenneth S.
Discovery date
7 March 1984
Discovery site
U. K. Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring

Also known as 94P · 1984 I · 1984d · 1990 XI · 94P/1984 E1 · 94P/1989 X2 · 94P/1989g1

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2034-05-10 02:01:00 Juptr 1.7531 AU 682.3 LD 8.1 km/s
2045-07-27 19:07:00 Juptr 0.6695 AU 260.6 LD 4.4 km/s
2082-02-19 07:16:00 Juptr 0.5724 AU 222.7 LD 4.6 km/s
2093-04-17 07:41:00 Juptr 1.3464 AU 524.0 LD 6.6 km/s
2095-12-11 01:58:00 Juptr 1.9797 AU 770.4 LD 2.2 km/s
2152-11-06 11:37:00 Juptr 0.4387 AU 170.7 LD 3.6 km/s
2152-11-06 11:37:00 Jupiter 0.4387 AU 170.7 LD 3.6 km/s

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

Sources