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WISE

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C/2010 D4 (WISE)

WISE is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 7.15 AU to 122.18 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 520 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
29.811 AU
True anomaly
127.94°
Distance from Earth
29.293 AU
As of
24 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 WISE — 29.811 AU from the Sun WISE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. WISE is 29.293 AU from Earth today (4.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 02m 12s
Declination
+30° 51′ 04″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
29.28 AU
Elongation from the Sun
121.27° — 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
64.666 AU
Eccentricity
0.8895
Inclination
105.66°
Orbital period
520 years
Perihelion
7.148 AU
Aphelion
122.184 AU
Longitude of ascending node
266.78°
Argument of periapsis
44.49°
Epoch · J2000
2455298.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 2,480.0 LD
6.3726 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.789

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
113
Data arc
3.2 years
First observed
6 June 2008
Last observed
19 August 2011
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
11.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2010 D4

Named

Sources