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Comet

Vales

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P/2010 H2 (Vales)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.758 AU
True anomaly
94.02°
Distance from Earth
4.076 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Vales — 3.758 AU from the Sun Vales
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Vales is 4.076 AU from Earth today (33.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 17m 10s
Declination
-32° 28′ 32″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
4.08 AU
Elongation from the Sun
64.18° — 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
3.851 AU
Eccentricity
0.1929
Inclination
14.25°
Orbital period
7.56 years
Perihelion
3.108 AU
Aphelion
4.593 AU
Longitude of ascending node
64.31°
Argument of periapsis
130.12°
Epoch · J2000
2455324.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 828.9 LD
2.1299 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.988

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
1,631
Data arc
141 days
First observed
16 April 2010
Last observed
4 September 2010
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2010 H2

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2060-08-27 15:05:00 Juptr 1.3524 AU 526.3 LD 3.1 km/s
2084-01-25 22:25:00 Juptr 1.0864 AU 422.8 LD 3.1 km/s
2111-11-29 08:36:00 Juptr 1.9356 AU 753.3 LD 4.7 km/s
2138-07-23 18:20:00 Juptr 1.3519 AU 526.1 LD 3.5 km/s
2141-11-15 12:45:00 Juptr 1.4013 AU 545.4 LD 5.6 km/s
2165-12-04 10:40:00 Juptr 0.7412 AU 288.5 LD 4.4 km/s

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

Sources