Comet Near-Earth

SOHO

C/2002 R5 (SOHO)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun: 4.565 AU
True anomaly: 173.74°
Distance from Earth: 5.417 AU
As of: 11 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. SOHO is 5.417 AU from Earth today (45.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension: 14h 45m 02s
Declination: -23° 49′ 14″
Constellation: Libra
Distance from Earth: 5.43 AU
Elongation from the Sun: 27.9° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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.

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: 3.216 AU
Eccentricity: 0.9853
Inclination: 14.12°
Orbital period: 5.77 years
Perihelion: 0.047 AU
Aphelion: 6.385 AU
Longitude of ascending node: 13.21°
Argument of periapsis: 45.73°
Epoch · J2000: 2453575.5
Orbit class · JFC: Jupiter-family comet (2 < T_J < 3)
Earth MOID · 36.6 LD: 0.0941 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter): 1.879

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used: 64
Data arc: 5.76 years
First observed: 5 September 2002
Last observed: 10 June 2008
Residual RMS: 0.09 ″
Solution · Otto Matic: 15 April 2021

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2002 R5 · C/2008 L6

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources

orbital elements: JPL SBDB