Comet

Donati

C/1855 L1 (Donati)

Donati is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.57 AU to 79.26 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 252 years.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun: 72.685 AU
True anomaly: 182.93°
Distance from Earth: 71.815 AU
As of: 24 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.

Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Donati is 71.815 AU from Earth today (10.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension: 04h 09m 11s
Declination: +12° 28′ 55″
Constellation: Taurus
Distance from Earth: 77.61 AU
Elongation from the Sun: 148.21° — 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.

Paste a location

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
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: 39.913 AU
Eccentricity: 0.9858
Inclination: 156.87°
Orbital period: 252 years
Perihelion: 0.568 AU
Aphelion: 79.259 AU
Longitude of ascending node: 262.23°
Argument of periapsis: 22.49°
Epoch · J2000: 2398720.5
Orbit class · COM: Comet
Tisserand (Jupiter): -0.726

Orbit quality

Observations used: 49
Data arc: 14 days
First observed: 5 June 1855
Last observed: 19 June 1855

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1855 L1

Named

Sources

orbital elements: JPL SBDB