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Comet

Lovejoy

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C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy)

Lovejoy is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.09 AU to 2,650.55 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 48,276.6 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
39.648 AU
True anomaly
161.03°
Distance from Earth
38.945 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 Lovejoy — 39.648 AU from the Sun Lovejoy
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Lovejoy is 38.945 AU from Earth today (5.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
02h 42m 02s
Declination
+57° 04′ 11″
Constellation
Perseus
Distance from Earth
38.94 AU
Elongation from the Sun
134.69° — 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
1,325.823 AU
Eccentricity
0.9992
Inclination
95.88°
Orbital period
48,276.6 years
Perihelion
1.093 AU
Aphelion
2,650.553 AU
Longitude of ascending node
232.43°
Argument of periapsis
340.53°
Epoch · J2000
2454235.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 43.9 LD
0.1128 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.129

Orbit quality

Observations used
1,648
Data arc
158 days
First observed
18 March 2007
Last observed
23 August 2007
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 17.5
10.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2007 E2

Named

Sources