Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet Near-Earth

SOHO

Add to an observing list or journal →

P/1999 J6 (SOHO)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.108 AU
True anomaly
157.99°
Distance from Earth
1.795 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth SOHO — 1.108 AU from the Sun SOHO
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. SOHO is 1.795 AU from Earth today (14.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 19m 32s
Declination
-18° 21′ 47″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.81 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33.34° — 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
3.099 AU
Eccentricity
0.9842
Inclination
26.63°
Orbital period
5.46 years
Perihelion
0.049 AU
Aphelion
6.149 AU
Longitude of ascending node
81.6°
Argument of periapsis
21.95°
Epoch · J2000
2454119.5
Orbit class · JFC
Jupiter-family comet (2 < T_J < 3)
Earth MOID · 3.8 LD
0.0099 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.923

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
267
Data arc
10.95 years
First observed
10 May 1999
Last observed
22 April 2010
Residual RMS
0.12 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 June 2025

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1999 J6 · P/2004 V9 · P/2010 H3

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-10-14 16:26:00 Mercury 0.0512 AU 19.9 LD 56.6 km/s
2031-10-14 16:26:00 Merc 0.0512 AU 19.9 LD 56.6 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources