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Spacewatch

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C/2006 GZ2 (Spacewatch)

Spacewatch is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 3.3 AU to 101,550.67 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 11,442,174.5 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
38.631 AU
True anomaly
146°
Distance from Earth
37.674 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 Spacewatch — 38.631 AU from the Sun Spacewatch
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Spacewatch is 37.674 AU from Earth today (5.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 09m 33s
Declination
+02° 36′ 21″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
37.68 AU
Elongation from the Sun
163.33° — near opposition — up most of the night

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
50,776.985 AU
Eccentricity
0.9999
Inclination
168.68°
Orbital period
11,442,174.5 years
Perihelion
3.303 AU
Aphelion
101,550.667 AU
Longitude of ascending node
355.32°
Argument of periapsis
191.48°
Epoch · J2000
2453836.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 899.7 LD
2.3118 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-2.209

Orbit quality

Observations used
59
Data arc
19 days
First observed
7 April 2006
Last observed
26 April 2006
Residual RMS
1 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
12.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2006 GZ2

Named

Sources