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Comet

Christensen

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287P/Christensen

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.124 AU
True anomaly
155.37°
Distance from Earth
5.296 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 — 5.124 AU from the Sun Christensen
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Christensen is 5.296 AU from Earth today (44.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 03m 56s
Declination
+12° 21′ 03″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
5.29 AU
Elongation from the Sun
75.18° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
4.168 AU
Eccentricity
0.271
Inclination
16.32°
Orbital period
8.51 years
Perihelion
3.038 AU
Aphelion
5.297 AU
Longitude of ascending node
139.05°
Argument of periapsis
188.87°
Epoch · J2000
2459211.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 789.4 LD
2.0285 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.902

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
270
Data arc
11.57 years
First observed
1 June 2013
Last observed
26 December 2024
Residual RMS
0.8 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
30 October 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 15.3
9.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 287P · 287P/2006 R2 · 287P/2013 L1

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2026-11-21 21:38:00 Juptr 0.9051 AU 352.2 LD 4.7 km/s
2031-02-25 18:57:00 Juptr 1.7024 AU 662.5 LD 3.8 km/s
2070-01-10 21:48:00 Juptr 1.5972 AU 621.6 LD 5.2 km/s
2074-10-26 15:57:00 Juptr 1.5767 AU 613.6 LD 5.9 km/s
2106-01-17 20:27:00 Juptr 1.7606 AU 685.2 LD 4.9 km/s
2110-05-18 15:27:00 Juptr 1.4394 AU 560.2 LD 5.7 km/s
2139-02-20 17:13:00 Juptr 1.9627 AU 763.8 LD 6.5 km/s
2169-01-21 09:18:00 Juptr 0.1066 AU 41.5 LD 5.3 km/s
2169-01-21 09:18:00 Jupiter 0.1066 AU 41.5 LD 5.3 km/s

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

Sources