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Comet

Gunn

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65P/Gunn

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.677 AU
True anomaly
92.13°
Distance from Earth
2.781 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 Gunn — 3.677 AU from the Sun Gunn
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Gunn is 2.781 AU from Earth today (23.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 18m 40s
Declination
-08° 40′ 32″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
2.79 AU
Elongation from the Sun
149.53° — 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
3.885 AU
Eccentricity
0.2497
Inclination
9.18°
Orbital period
7.66 years
Perihelion
2.915 AU
Aphelion
4.855 AU
Longitude of ascending node
62.02°
Argument of periapsis
213.83°
Epoch · J2000
2459159.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 741.4 LD
1.9051 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.991

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
3,233
Data arc
12.67 years
First observed
4 February 2014
Last observed
8 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
14 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
5.40 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6.8
11.5

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Gunn, James E.
Discovery date
27 October 1970
Discovery site
Palomar Mountain Observatory, California

Also known as 65P · 1953 VIII · 1969 II · 1970p · 1976 III · 1989 XI · 65P/1954 P1 · 65P/1970 U2

Named

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2034-10-18 06:36:00 Juptr 1.4882 AU 579.2 LD 1.9 km/s
2037-04-04 09:38:00 Juptr 1.2806 AU 498.4 LD 4.8 km/s
2072-05-26 00:22:00 Juptr 0.9087 AU 353.6 LD 4.4 km/s
2096-02-07 23:19:00 Juptr 0.7365 AU 286.6 LD 3.8 km/s
2099-07-18 00:08:00 Juptr 1.067 AU 415.2 LD 1.9 km/s
2132-01-30 04:35:00 Juptr 1.7753 AU 690.9 LD 5.7 km/s
2136-07-21 21:17:00 Juptr 1.2004 AU 467.2 LD 2.8 km/s

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

Sources