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Comet Near-Earth

SWAN

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P/2005 T4 (SWAN)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
15.271 AU
True anomaly
189.38°
Distance from Earth
16 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.

Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth SWAN — 15.271 AU from the Sun SWAN
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. SWAN is 16 AU from Earth today (2.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 19m 59s
Declination
-05° 20′ 05″
Constellation
Sextans
Distance from Earth
15.99 AU
Elongation from the Sun
42.27° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
9.324 AU
Eccentricity
0.9304
Inclination
160.04°
Orbital period
28.47 years
Perihelion
0.649 AU
Aphelion
17.999 AU
Longitude of ascending node
25.42°
Argument of periapsis
41.44°
Epoch · J2000
2453667.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 61.2 LD
0.1573 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.365

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
31
Data arc
17 days
First observed
14 October 2005
Last observed
31 October 2005
Residual RMS
0.67 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
15.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2005 T4

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources