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Comet

Palomar

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C/2019 J2 (Palomar)

Palomar is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.73 AU to 1,483.19 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 20,231 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 4 September 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
19.451 AU
True anomaly
145.54°
Distance from Earth
19.873 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 Palomar — 19.451 AU from the Sun Palomar
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Palomar is 19.873 AU from Earth today (2.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 49m 22s
Declination
-51° 24′ 17″
Constellation
Vela
Distance from Earth
19.87 AU
Elongation from the Sun
63.66° — well clear of the Sun

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
742.46 AU
Eccentricity
0.9977
Inclination
105.14°
Orbital period
20,231 years
Perihelion
1.727 AU
Aphelion
1,483.192 AU
Longitude of ascending node
25.47°
Argument of periapsis
98.7°
Epoch · J2000
2458644.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 516.3 LD
1.3267 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.418

Orbit quality

Observations used
312
Data arc
96 days
First observed
27 April 2019
Last observed
1 August 2019
Residual RMS
1.11 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 September 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 22.5
9.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2019 J2

Named

Sources