Brorsen-Metcalf
23P/Brorsen-Metcalf
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 28.824 AU
- True anomaly
- 185.64°
- As of
- 17 September 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 17h 18m 53s
- Declination
- -37° 46′ 32″
- Constellation
- Scorpius
- Distance from Earth
- 33.66 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 86.17° — well clear of the Sun
Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.
From your location
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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
- 17.069 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.972
- Inclination
- 19.33°
- Orbital period
- 70.52 years
- Perihelion
- 0.479 AU
- Aphelion
- 33.66 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 311.59°
- Argument of periapsis
- 129.61°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2447800.5
- Orbit class · HTC
- Halley-type comet
- Earth MOID · 75.4 LD
- 0.1939 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 1.109
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 223
- Data arc
- 142.1 years
- First observed
- 1 August 1847
- Last observed
- 9 September 1989
- Residual RMS
- 1.23 ″
- Solution · M.S.W. Keesey
- 1 March 2002
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 7.8
- Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 8
- 7.8
Discovery & classification
Also known as 23P
Sources
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB