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Comet

Mueller

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136P/Mueller 3

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.225 AU
True anomaly
107.94°
Distance from Earth
4.194 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 Mueller — 4.225 AU from the Sun Mueller
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Mueller is 4.194 AU from Earth today (34.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 23m 02s
Declination
+14° 58′ 44″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
4.19 AU
Elongation from the Sun
85.45° — 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
4.202 AU
Eccentricity
0.2911
Inclination
9.42°
Orbital period
8.61 years
Perihelion
2.979 AU
Aphelion
5.425 AU
Longitude of ascending node
137.45°
Argument of periapsis
225.11°
Epoch · J2000
2457898.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 771.9 LD
1.9834 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.935

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
716
Data arc
18.56 years
First observed
16 July 2007
Last observed
4 February 2026
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
9 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 17.3
8.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 136P · 136P/1990 S1 · 136P/1998 K4 · 1990 XIII · 1990l

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-11-15 08:56:00 Juptr 1.5311 AU 595.9 LD 6.2 km/s
2032-11-19 11:43:00 Juptr 1.616 AU 628.9 LD 4.5 km/s
2069-04-05 07:00:00 Juptr 1.6682 AU 649.2 LD 5 km/s
2106-12-19 03:43:00 Juptr 1.6541 AU 643.7 LD 4 km/s
2111-12-26 22:37:00 Juptr 1.614 AU 628.1 LD 5.6 km/s
2141-07-30 13:51:00 Juptr 1.9241 AU 748.8 LD 5.7 km/s
2175-07-28 03:25:00 Juptr 1.784 AU 694.3 LD 5.2 km/s

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

Sources