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Comet

Taylor

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69P/Taylor

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.289 AU
True anomaly
350.94°
Distance from Earth
1.856 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 Taylor — 2.289 AU from the Sun Taylor
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Taylor is 1.856 AU from Earth today (15.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 06m 33s
Declination
+11° 04′ 32″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
1.85 AU
Elongation from the Sun
102.92° — 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
3.889 AU
Eccentricity
0.4136
Inclination
22.04°
Orbital period
7.67 years
Perihelion
2.28 AU
Aphelion
5.497 AU
Longitude of ascending node
104.85°
Argument of periapsis
343.67°
Epoch · J2000
2457557.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 508.1 LD
1.3056 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.797

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
46
Data arc
7.35 years
First observed
28 October 2011
Last observed
6 March 2019
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
16 April 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
17.3

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Taylor, Clement J.
Discovery date
24 November 1915
Discovery site
Herschel View, South Africa

Also known as 69P · 1915e · 1916 I · 1977 II · 1977a · 1990 XXX · 1990n · 69P/1915 W1

Named

Close approaches 14 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-03-25 13:11:00 Juptr 1.5599 AU 607.1 LD 8.6 km/s
2067-01-02 18:31:00 Juptr 1.8334 AU 713.5 LD 8.2 km/s
2091-04-10 07:49:00 Jupiter 0.3536 AU 137.6 LD 5.6 km/s
2091-04-10 07:49:00 Juptr 0.3536 AU 137.6 LD 5.6 km/s
2150-09-08 10:01:00 Juptr 1.3993 AU 544.6 LD 7.9 km/s
2174-04-03 11:47:00 Jupiter 0.1998 AU 77.7 LD 6 km/s
2174-04-03 11:47:00 Juptr 0.1998 AU 77.7 LD 6 km/s

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

Sources