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Comet

Metcalf-Brewington

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97P/Metcalf-Brewington

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.928 AU
True anomaly
171.46°
Distance from Earth
7.881 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 Metcalf-Brewington — 6.928 AU from the Sun Metcalf-Brewington
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Metcalf-Brewington is 7.881 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 49m 38s
Declination
-05° 55′ 10″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
7.88 AU
Elongation from the Sun
15.3° — 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
4.8 AU
Eccentricity
0.4569
Inclination
17.86°
Orbital period
10.52 years
Perihelion
2.607 AU
Aphelion
6.993 AU
Longitude of ascending node
185.17°
Argument of periapsis
228.22°
Epoch · J2000
2457856.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 644.3 LD
1.6557 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.71

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
391
Data arc
21.41 years
First observed
1 September 2000
Last observed
28 January 2022
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
18 April 2024

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.70 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.8
13.7

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Metcalf, Joel H.
Discovery date
15 November 1906
Discovery site
Taunton, Massachusetts

Also known as 97P · 1906 VI · 1906h · 1991 I · 1991a · 97P/1906 V2 · 97P/1991 A1

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2076-08-16 10:49:00 Juptr 1.9863 AU 773.0 LD 11.1 km/s
2088-04-18 11:22:00 Juptr 1.2458 AU 484.8 LD 4.9 km/s
2103-09-20 22:59:00 Juptr 1.5015 AU 584.3 LD 6.3 km/s
2159-02-18 22:18:00 Juptr 0.6843 AU 266.3 LD 5.5 km/s

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

Sources