Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Bennett

Add to an observing list or journal →

C/1969 Y1 (Bennett)

Bennett is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.54 AU to 289.54 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 1,746.8 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
77.475 AU
True anomaly
171.82°
Distance from Earth
76.537 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Bennett — 77.475 AU from the Sun Bennett
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Bennett is 76.537 AU from Earth today (10.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
02h 30m 24s
Declination
+29° 48′ 31″
Constellation
Triangulum
Distance from Earth
76.54 AU
Elongation from the Sun
161.05° — near opposition — up most of the night

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
145.039 AU
Eccentricity
0.9963
Inclination
90.04°
Orbital period
1,746.8 years
Perihelion
0.538 AU
Aphelion
289.541 AU
Longitude of ascending node
224.66°
Argument of periapsis
354.15°
Epoch · J2000
2440688.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 182.5 LD
0.469 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.035

Orbit quality

Observations used
529
Data arc
301 days
First observed
30 December 1969
Last observed
27 October 1970
Residual RMS
0.77 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
4.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12
4.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1969 Y1

Named

Sources