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Comet

Smirnova-Chernykh

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74P/Smirnova-Chernykh

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.562 AU
True anomaly
13.65°
Distance from Earth
4.433 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 Smirnova-Chernykh — 3.562 AU from the Sun Smirnova-Chernykh
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Smirnova-Chernykh is 4.433 AU from Earth today (36.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 24m 31s
Declination
+03° 04′ 31″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
4.43 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.01° — 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
4.165 AU
Eccentricity
0.1479
Inclination
6.65°
Orbital period
8.5 years
Perihelion
3.549 AU
Aphelion
4.781 AU
Longitude of ascending node
77.08°
Argument of periapsis
86.56°
Epoch · J2000
2456322.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 998.8 LD
2.5666 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.007

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
6,028
Data arc
28.6 years
First observed
14 July 1997
Last observed
19 February 2026
Residual RMS
0.66 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
7 March 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.23 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.3
6.7

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Smirnova, Tamara Mikhajlovna
Discovery date
28 February 1975
Discovery site
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory

Also known as 74P · 1967 XV · 1975 VII · 1975e · 1984 V · 1992 XXI · 74P/1967 EU · 74P/1975 E2

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2030-07-13 15:00:00 Jupiter 0.3297 AU 128.3 LD 2.1 km/s
2030-07-13 15:00:00 Juptr 0.3297 AU 128.3 LD 2.1 km/s
2084-10-25 07:32:00 Juptr 0.5416 AU 210.8 LD 2.1 km/s

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

Sources