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Comet

Kowalski

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391P/Kowalski

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.409 AU
True anomaly
292.53°
Distance from Earth
5.208 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 Kowalski — 4.409 AU from the Sun Kowalski
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Kowalski is 5.208 AU from Earth today (43.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 01m 34s
Declination
-04° 49′ 57″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
5.21 AU
Elongation from the Sun
32.77° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
4.676 AU
Eccentricity
0.119
Inclination
21.27°
Orbital period
10.11 years
Perihelion
4.12 AU
Aphelion
5.233 AU
Longitude of ascending node
124.76°
Argument of periapsis
186.82°
Epoch · J2000
2455004.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,208.6 LD
3.1054 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.867

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
267
Data arc
21.25 years
First observed
10 May 2005
Last observed
8 August 2026
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
9.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 391P · 391P/2006 F1 · 391P/2019 U2

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2069-05-25 12:32:00 Juptr 1.2426 AU 483.6 LD 5.6 km/s
2073-11-17 18:31:00 Jupiter 0.0739 AU 28.8 LD 6.4 km/s
2073-11-17 18:31:00 Juptr 0.0739 AU 28.8 LD 6.4 km/s
2080-05-23 14:40:00 Juptr 1.9635 AU 764.1 LD 4 km/s
2150-04-06 02:13:00 Juptr 1.2781 AU 497.4 LD 6.5 km/s
2192-01-18 16:45:00 Juptr 1.061 AU 412.9 LD 6.8 km/s

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

Sources