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Comet

Kojima

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70P/Kojima

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.683 AU
True anomaly
213.84°
Distance from Earth
4.185 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 Kojima — 4.683 AU from the Sun Kojima
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Kojima is 4.185 AU from Earth today (34.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
21h 50m 00s
Declination
-17° 41′ 22″
Constellation
Capricornus
Distance from Earth
4.19 AU
Elongation from the Sun
113.9° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
3.674 AU
Eccentricity
0.4539
Inclination
6.6°
Orbital period
7.04 years
Perihelion
2.007 AU
Aphelion
5.342 AU
Longitude of ascending node
119.27°
Argument of periapsis
1.95°
Epoch · J2000
2457156.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 397.8 LD
1.0221 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.904

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,097
Data arc
54.59 years
First observed
27 December 1970
Last observed
29 July 2025
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
6 May 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.50 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 11
12.5

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Kojima, Nobuhisa
Discovery date
27 December 1970
Discovery site
Ishiki, Japan

Also known as 70P · 1970 XII · 1970r · 1977r · 1978 X · 1985o · 1986 VII · 1992z

Named

Close approaches 14 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-03-17 10:07:00 Juptr 0.1106 AU 43.0 LD 5.7 km/s
2033-03-17 10:07:00 Jupiter 0.1106 AU 43.0 LD 5.7 km/s
2067-10-03 14:01:00 Juptr 0.5542 AU 215.7 LD 4.4 km/s
2092-05-31 12:43:00 Juptr 1.0177 AU 396.1 LD 7 km/s
2127-05-20 16:06:00 Jupiter 0.3364 AU 130.9 LD 4.6 km/s
2127-05-20 16:06:00 Juptr 0.3364 AU 130.9 LD 4.6 km/s

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

Sources