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Comet

La Sagra

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P/2009 T2 (La Sagra)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
9.809 AU
True anomaly
207.26°
Distance from Earth
10.241 AU
As of
24 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 La Sagra — 9.809 AU from the Sun La Sagra
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. La Sagra is 10.241 AU from Earth today (1.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 00m 48s
Declination
+00° 12′ 15″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
10.24 AU
Elongation from the Sun
61.6° — well clear of the Sun

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
7.596 AU
Eccentricity
0.769
Inclination
28.11°
Orbital period
20.94 years
Perihelion
1.755 AU
Aphelion
13.437 AU
Longitude of ascending node
215.99°
Argument of periapsis
215.47°
Epoch · J2000
2455153.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 319.7 LD
0.8216 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.048

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
882
Data arc
182 days
First observed
18 September 2009
Last observed
19 March 2010
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10.5
13.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2009 T2

Named

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2076-05-15 13:31:00 Juptr 1.7978 AU 699.7 LD 9 km/s
2159-12-10 03:45:00 Juptr 1.4399 AU 560.4 LD 14.6 km/s

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

Sources