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Comet

Christensen

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266P/Christensen

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.355 AU
True anomaly
344.46°
Distance from Earth
2.016 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 Christensen — 2.355 AU from the Sun Christensen
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Christensen is 2.016 AU from Earth today (16.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 39m 27s
Declination
+25° 30′ 27″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
2.01 AU
Elongation from the Sun
97.26° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.532 AU
Eccentricity
0.3395
Inclination
3.43°
Orbital period
6.64 years
Perihelion
2.333 AU
Aphelion
4.732 AU
Longitude of ascending node
5.01°
Argument of periapsis
97.98°
Epoch · J2000
2458122.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 526.5 LD
1.3528 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.02

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
551
Data arc
14.16 years
First observed
15 August 2012
Last observed
12 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.8 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
14 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.5
12.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 266P · 266P/2006 U5 · 266P/2012 P1

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-03-10 17:20:00 Juptr 1.2736 AU 495.7 LD 4.9 km/s
2055-12-21 23:02:00 Juptr 1.1367 AU 442.4 LD 4.7 km/s
2103-09-17 10:36:00 Juptr 0.8352 AU 325.0 LD 3.8 km/s
2115-06-05 02:59:00 Juptr 1.0525 AU 409.6 LD 4.5 km/s
2174-11-16 15:04:00 Juptr 0.6112 AU 237.9 LD 3 km/s

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

Sources