Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Siding Spring

Add to an observing list or journal →

487P/Siding Spring

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.64 AU
True anomaly
136.34°
Distance from Earth
6.523 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 Siding Spring — 5.64 AU from the Sun Siding Spring
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Siding Spring is 6.523 AU from Earth today (54.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 33m 56s
Declination
+13° 48′ 08″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
6.52 AU
Elongation from the Sun
25.72° — 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
5.165 AU
Eccentricity
0.6481
Inclination
39.37°
Orbital period
11.74 years
Perihelion
1.817 AU
Aphelion
8.513 AU
Longitude of ascending node
49.2°
Argument of periapsis
0.82°
Epoch · J2000
2459813.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 321.8 LD
0.8268 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.181

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,401
Data arc
23.11 years
First observed
13 February 2002
Last observed
26 March 2025
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 September 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12
12.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 487P · 487P/2012 US27 · 487P/2024 N5

Named

Sources