Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Helin-Roman-Alu

Add to an observing list or journal →

132P/Helin-Roman-Alu 2

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.706 AU
True anomaly
198.31°
Distance from Earth
6.652 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 Helin-Roman-Alu — 5.706 AU from the Sun Helin-Roman-Alu
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Helin-Roman-Alu is 6.652 AU from Earth today (55.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 57m 47s
Declination
-12° 57′ 47″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
6.65 AU
Elongation from the Sun
16.39° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
3.886 AU
Eccentricity
0.5647
Inclination
5.38°
Orbital period
7.66 years
Perihelion
1.692 AU
Aphelion
6.081 AU
Longitude of ascending node
174°
Argument of periapsis
216.35°
Epoch · J2000
2459491.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 272.4 LD
0.7 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.759

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,323
Data arc
7.59 years
First observed
30 August 2014
Last observed
2 April 2022
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
23 November 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 22.3
10.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 132P · 132P/1989 U1 · 132P/1997 N2 · 1989 XVI · 1989y

Named

Close approaches 19 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2042-02-03 18:09:00 Jupiter 0.4448 AU 173.1 LD 5.1 km/s
2042-02-03 18:09:00 Juptr 0.4448 AU 173.1 LD 5.1 km/s
2065-11-27 01:12:00 Juptr 0.305 AU 118.7 LD 6 km/s
2065-11-27 01:12:00 Jupiter 0.305 AU 118.7 LD 6 km/s
2099-12-25 18:33:00 Juptr 1.9169 AU 746.0 LD 10.5 km/s
2123-08-30 03:47:00 Juptr 0.6482 AU 252.3 LD 5 km/s
2148-10-22 19:23:00 Juptr 0.2805 AU 109.2 LD 6.6 km/s
2148-10-22 19:23:00 Jupiter 0.2805 AU 109.2 LD 6.6 km/s
2159-07-18 21:07:00 Juptr 1.6623 AU 646.9 LD 9.4 km/s
2171-06-17 07:54:00 Mars 0.0608 AU 23.6 LD 8.3 km/s

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

Sources