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Comet Near-Earth

Denning-Fujikawa

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72P/Denning-Fujikawa

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.435 AU
True anomaly
170.37°
Distance from Earth
8.405 AU
As of
11 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 — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Denning-Fujikawa — 7.435 AU from the Sun Denning-Fujikawa
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Denning-Fujikawa is 8.405 AU from Earth today (1.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 29m 45s
Declination
+01° 22′ 16″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
8.4 AU
Elongation from the Sun
13.19° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
4.347 AU
Eccentricity
0.8205
Inclination
9.23°
Orbital period
9.06 years
Perihelion
0.781 AU
Aphelion
7.914 AU
Longitude of ascending node
35.44°
Argument of periapsis
338.47°
Epoch · J2000
2457286.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 34.3 LD
0.0882 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.228

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
66
Data arc
44.69 years
First observed
10 October 1978
Last observed
20 June 2023
Residual RMS
0.98 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
14 November 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 19
17.5

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Denning, William F.
Discovery date
4 October 1881

Also known as 72P · 1881 V · 1881f · 1978 XIX · 1978n · 72P/1881 T1 · 72P/1978 T2

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 26 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Denning-Fujikawa at 2059-08-21 15:04 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2059-08-21 15:04 UTC close approach of Denning-Fujikawa. Catalogue miss distance 66.5 LD · 2.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2059-08-18 to 2059-08-24, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 66.5 LD · 2.55 × 10⁷ km 2059-08-21 15:04 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2059-08-21 15:04 UTC close approach of Denning-Fujikawa. Catalogue miss distance 66.5 LD · 2.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2059-08-18 to 2059-08-24, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2029-09-13 05:58:00 Juptr 1.6915 AU 658.3 LD 8 km/s
2051-11-28 20:07:00 Juptr 0.9479 AU 368.9 LD 12.5 km/s
2059-08-21 15:04:00 Earth 0.1708 AU 66.5 LD 16.9 km/s
2068-12-14 23:45:00 Earth 0.3343 AU 130.1 LD 26.5 km/s
2076-11-22 21:03:00 Juptr 1.9609 AU 763.1 LD 15.6 km/s
2099-06-22 23:05:00 Juptr 1.937 AU 753.8 LD 8 km/s
2105-07-21 18:14:00 Earth 0.3746 AU 145.8 LD 26.8 km/s
2112-12-25 08:29:00 Juptr 0.6355 AU 247.3 LD 9.5 km/s
2114-10-16 15:01:00 Earth 0.1457 AU 56.7 LD 15 km/s
2128-09-30 17:09:00 Satrn 1.5207 AU 591.8 LD 5.2 km/s

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

Sources