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Comet

Borisov

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C/2014 Q3 (Borisov)

Borisov is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.65 AU to 55.22 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 151.6 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
24.585 AU
True anomaly
157.42°
Distance from Earth
25.36 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 Borisov — 24.585 AU from the Sun Borisov
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Borisov is 25.36 AU from Earth today (3.5 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 33m 09s
Declination
-43° 54′ 53″
Constellation
Lupus
Distance from Earth
25.37 AU
Elongation from the Sun
37.71° — 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.

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
28.435 AU
Eccentricity
0.9421
Inclination
89.95°
Orbital period
151.6 years
Perihelion
1.647 AU
Aphelion
55.222 AU
Longitude of ascending node
63.13°
Argument of periapsis
47.38°
Epoch · J2000
2456949.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 337.1 LD
0.8662 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.184

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
766
Data arc
189 days
First observed
22 August 2014
Last observed
27 February 2015
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 22
8.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2014 Q3

Named

Sources