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Comet Near-Earth

SOHO

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P/2002 S7 (SOHO)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.28 AU
True anomaly
172.92°
Distance from Earth
4.62 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 — 4.28 AU from the Sun SOHO
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. SOHO is 4.62 AU from Earth today (38.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 24m 02s
Declination
-32° 02′ 39″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
4.63 AU
Elongation from the Sun
63.64° — 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
3.224 AU
Eccentricity
0.9848
Inclination
13.58°
Orbital period
5.79 years
Perihelion
0.049 AU
Aphelion
6.398 AU
Longitude of ascending node
50.19°
Argument of periapsis
52.17°
Epoch · J2000
2453663.5
Orbit class · JFC
Jupiter-family comet (2 < T_J < 3)
Earth MOID · 44.5 LD
0.1144 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.88

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
39
Data arc
5.79 years
First observed
20 September 2002
Last observed
4 July 2008
Residual RMS
0.13 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2002 S7 · P/2008 N4

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources