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Comet

Montani

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C/1997 G2 (Montani)

Montani is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 3.08 AU to 1,054 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 12,151.4 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
49.054 AU
True anomaly
151.61°
Distance from Earth
48.353 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 Montani — 49.054 AU from the Sun Montani
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Montani is 48.353 AU from Earth today (6.7 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
03h 58m 32s
Declination
+50° 59′ 37″
Constellation
Perseus
Distance from Earth
48.35 AU
Elongation from the Sun
134.62° — 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
528.541 AU
Eccentricity
0.9942
Inclination
69.84°
Orbital period
12,151.4 years
Perihelion
3.085 AU
Aphelion
1,053.998 AU
Longitude of ascending node
55.8°
Argument of periapsis
239.84°
Epoch · J2000
2450655.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 950.2 LD
2.4416 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.759

Orbit quality

Observations used
187
Data arc
554 days
First observed
12 April 1997
Last observed
18 October 1998
Residual RMS
0.77 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13.3
6.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1997 G2

Named

Sources