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Comet

Spitaler

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113P/Spitaler

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.997 AU
True anomaly
201.12°
Distance from Earth
5.611 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 Spitaler — 4.997 AU from the Sun Spitaler
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Spitaler is 5.611 AU from Earth today (46.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 01m 26s
Declination
-27° 38′ 40″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
5.61 AU
Elongation from the Sun
47.49° — 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
3.682 AU
Eccentricity
0.4245
Inclination
5.78°
Orbital period
7.07 years
Perihelion
2.119 AU
Aphelion
5.245 AU
Longitude of ascending node
14.39°
Argument of periapsis
50.03°
Epoch · J2000
2457229.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 442.9 LD
1.138 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.929

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
879
Data arc
132.4 years
First observed
17 November 1890
Last observed
15 April 2023
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
29 April 2024

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.10 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 8
14.7

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Spitaler, Rudolf
Discovery date
17 November 1890
Discovery site
Vienna Observatory

Also known as 113P · 113P/1890 W1 · 113P/1993 U2 · 1890 VII · 1890f · 1993r · 1994 III

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2054-10-31 00:50:00 Juptr 0.4065 AU 158.2 LD 3.4 km/s
2054-10-31 00:50:00 Jupiter 0.4065 AU 158.2 LD 3.4 km/s
2113-07-06 00:03:00 Juptr 1.2993 AU 505.7 LD 5.2 km/s
2116-10-01 19:07:00 Juptr 1.832 AU 713.0 LD 2.8 km/s
2137-08-08 23:25:00 Juptr 0.5709 AU 222.2 LD 3.5 km/s
2172-12-31 10:36:00 Juptr 0.826 AU 321.5 LD 3.8 km/s
2177-05-25 16:15:00 Juptr 1.2188 AU 474.3 LD 3.4 km/s

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

Sources