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Comet

Dodwell-Forbes

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C/1932 Y1 (Dodwell-Forbes)

Dodwell-Forbes is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.13 AU to 80.1 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 258.9 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 4 December 2023.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
76.248 AU
True anomaly
176.92°
Distance from Earth
77.185 AU
As of
24 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Dodwell-Forbes — 76.248 AU from the Sun Dodwell-Forbes
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Dodwell-Forbes is 77.185 AU from Earth today (10.7 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 07m 01s
Declination
-03° 07′ 49″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
77.19 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.16° — 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
40.617 AU
Eccentricity
0.9722
Inclination
24.5°
Orbital period
258.9 years
Perihelion
1.131 AU
Aphelion
80.103 AU
Longitude of ascending node
78.59°
Argument of periapsis
327.36°
Epoch · J2000
2427092.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 79.4 LD
0.204 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.32

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
23
Data arc
63 days
First observed
23 December 1932
Last observed
24 February 1933
Residual RMS
0.95 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 December 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 15.3
9.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1932 Y1

Named

Sources