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Comet

Utsunomiya

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C/1997 T1 (Utsunomiya)

Utsunomiya is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.36 AU to 1,834.96 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 27,821.7 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 3 February 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
51.277 AU
True anomaly
161.52°
Distance from Earth
51.703 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 Utsunomiya — 51.277 AU from the Sun Utsunomiya
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Utsunomiya is 51.703 AU from Earth today (7.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 34m 40s
Declination
-39° 15′ 18″
Constellation
Antlia
Distance from Earth
51.7 AU
Elongation from the Sun
64.27° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
918.157 AU
Eccentricity
0.9985
Inclination
127.99°
Orbital period
27,821.7 years
Perihelion
1.359 AU
Aphelion
1,834.956 AU
Longitude of ascending node
53.7°
Argument of periapsis
95.97°
Epoch · J2000
2450772.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 337.8 LD
0.8679 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.884

Orbit quality

Observations used
681
Data arc
256 days
First observed
5 October 1997
Last observed
18 June 1998
Residual RMS
0.79 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
3 February 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 18.3
7.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1997 T1

Named

Sources