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Comet

Smith

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C/2019 K7 (Smith)

Smith is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 4.48 AU to 666,730.23 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 192,483,188.2 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 30 July 2024.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
15.999 AU
True anomaly
116.14°
Distance from Earth
16.244 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 Smith — 15.999 AU from the Sun Smith
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Smith is 16.244 AU from Earth today (2.3 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 39m 10s
Declination
+46° 28′ 01″
Constellation
Ursa Major
Distance from Earth
16.24 AU
Elongation from the Sun
74.69° — 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
333,367.354 AU
Eccentricity
1
Inclination
103.54°
Orbital period
192,483,188.2 years
Perihelion
4.475 AU
Aphelion
666,730.232 AU
Longitude of ascending node
307.93°
Argument of periapsis
27.31°
Epoch · J2000
2459226.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,380.6 LD
3.5476 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.614

Orbit quality

Observations used
2,719
Data arc
6.49 years
First observed
8 October 2017
Last observed
4 April 2024
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 July 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
10.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2019 K7

Named

Sources