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Comet

MOSS

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281P/MOSS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.432 AU
True anomaly
139.98°
Distance from Earth
6.183 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 MOSS — 5.432 AU from the Sun MOSS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. MOSS is 6.183 AU from Earth today (51.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 22m 41s
Declination
-20° 34′ 25″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
6.19 AU
Elongation from the Sun
37.27° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
4.856 AU
Eccentricity
0.1734
Inclination
4.72°
Orbital period
10.7 years
Perihelion
4.014 AU
Aphelion
5.699 AU
Longitude of ascending node
87.17°
Argument of periapsis
26.42°
Epoch · J2000
2455778.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,179.6 LD
3.0312 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.968

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
101
Data arc
22.26 years
First observed
17 November 2000
Last observed
20 February 2023
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
22 February 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
14.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 281P · 281P/2013 CE31

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2102-05-15 03:11:00 Juptr 1.8399 AU 716.0 LD 7.1 km/s
2113-08-02 04:56:00 Juptr 0.1481 AU 57.6 LD 3.8 km/s
2113-08-02 04:56:00 Jupiter 0.1481 AU 57.6 LD 3.8 km/s
2155-09-16 17:13:00 Juptr 1.7122 AU 666.4 LD 4.7 km/s
2161-07-08 23:46:00 Juptr 1.6985 AU 661.0 LD 6.6 km/s
2192-09-27 01:47:00 Juptr 1.566 AU 609.5 LD 2.8 km/s
2197-02-16 06:41:00 Juptr 0.6542 AU 254.6 LD 4.2 km/s

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

Sources