Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Bradfield

Add to an observing list or journal →

C/1972 E1 (Bradfield)

Bradfield is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.93 AU to 996.51 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 11,137.6 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
78.645 AU
True anomaly
168.03°
Distance from Earth
78.506 AU
As of
25 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 Bradfield — 78.645 AU from the Sun Bradfield
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Bradfield is 78.506 AU from Earth today (10.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 46m 20s
Declination
+69° 56′ 54″
Constellation
Ursa Major
Distance from Earth
78.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
97.8° — well clear of the Sun

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
498.718 AU
Eccentricity
0.9981
Inclination
123.69°
Orbital period
11,137.6 years
Perihelion
0.927 AU
Aphelion
996.51 AU
Longitude of ascending node
160.3°
Argument of periapsis
257.7°
Epoch · J2000
2441431.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 139.4 LD
0.3583 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.652

Orbit quality

Observations used
85
Data arc
72 days
First observed
22 March 1972
Last observed
2 June 1972
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6.8
9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1972 E1

Named

Sources