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Comet

Hug-Bell

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178P/Hug-Bell

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.8 AU
True anomaly
270.64°
Distance from Earth
2.789 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 Hug-Bell — 2.8 AU from the Sun Hug-Bell
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Hug-Bell is 2.789 AU from Earth today (23.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 28m 43s
Declination
-27° 01′ 51″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
2.79 AU
Elongation from the Sun
80.1° — 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
3.651 AU
Eccentricity
0.4787
Inclination
11.01°
Orbital period
6.98 years
Perihelion
1.904 AU
Aphelion
5.399 AU
Longitude of ascending node
103.09°
Argument of periapsis
296.95°
Epoch · J2000
2458099.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 366.2 LD
0.9411 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.869

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
769
Data arc
13.09 years
First observed
6 July 2013
Last observed
7 August 2026
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
13 August 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10.3
13.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 178P · 178P/1999 X1 · 178P/2006 O1

Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2065-01-11 17:26:00 Juptr 1.1792 AU 458.9 LD 5.5 km/s
2125-07-25 21:08:00 Juptr 1.2607 AU 490.6 LD 7 km/s
2161-01-09 10:44:00 Juptr 1.6547 AU 644.0 LD 8.2 km/s

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

Sources