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Comet

Russell

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89P/Russell 2

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.963 AU
True anomaly
154.91°
Distance from Earth
4.499 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 Russell — 4.963 AU from the Sun Russell
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Russell is 4.499 AU from Earth today (37.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 31m 17s
Declination
+32° 41′ 02″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
4.49 AU
Elongation from the Sun
112.76° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.753 AU
Eccentricity
0.4084
Inclination
12.08°
Orbital period
7.27 years
Perihelion
2.22 AU
Aphelion
5.286 AU
Longitude of ascending node
41.44°
Argument of periapsis
250.18°
Epoch · J2000
2458318.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 482.3 LD
1.2392 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.903

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
648
Data arc
44.4 years
First observed
9 August 1980
Last observed
1 January 2025
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
13 November 2025

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.40 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 21.5
8.2

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Russell, Kenneth S.
Discovery date
28 September 1980
Discovery site
U. K. Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring

Also known as 89P · 1980 III · 1980o · 1987 XI · 1987q · 1994 XXIX · 1994e · 89P/1980 S1

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2049-08-27 23:51:00 Juptr 0.9873 AU 384.2 LD 3.4 km/s
2084-03-22 17:53:00 Juptr 0.8221 AU 320.0 LD 4.1 km/s
2141-11-15 08:53:00 Juptr 1.7996 AU 700.4 LD 3.8 km/s
2145-05-07 12:37:00 Juptr 0.8698 AU 338.5 LD 5 km/s
2177-05-08 23:50:00 Juptr 1.9541 AU 760.5 LD 4.5 km/s
2180-11-14 19:04:00 Juptr 0.963 AU 374.8 LD 5.8 km/s

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

Sources