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Solar
Comet Near-Earth

McNaught-Russell

262P/McNaught-Russell

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
10.266 AU
True anomaly
198.43°
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
14h 44m 58s
Declination
-11° 22′ 12″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
10.92 AU
Elongation from the Sun
46.91° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
6.935 AU
Eccentricity
0.8154
Inclination
29.08°
Orbital period
18.26 years
Perihelion
1.28 AU
Aphelion
12.59 AU
Longitude of ascending node
218.01°
Argument of periapsis
171.17°
Epoch · J2000
2455919.5
Orbit class · JFC
Jupiter-family comet (2 < T_J < 3)
Earth MOID · 113.2 LD
0.2908 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.918

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,339
Data arc
18.36 years
First observed
12 December 1994
Last observed
22 April 2013
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6.5
14.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 262P

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources