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Comet

Johnson

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C/1935 A1 (Johnson)

Johnson is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.81 AU to 185.6 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 899.8 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 4 December 2023.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
98.633 AU
True anomaly
172.87°
Distance from Earth
99.038 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 Johnson — 98.633 AU from the Sun Johnson
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Johnson is 99.038 AU from Earth today (13.7 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 31m 24s
Declination
-33° 26′ 53″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
99.05 AU
Elongation from the Sun
65.04° — 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
93.205 AU
Eccentricity
0.9913
Inclination
65.42°
Orbital period
899.8 years
Perihelion
0.811 AU
Aphelion
185.599 AU
Longitude of ascending node
92.44°
Argument of periapsis
18.4°
Epoch · J2000
2427861.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 58.0 LD
0.149 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.519

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
34
Data arc
68 days
First observed
2 February 1935
Last observed
11 April 1935
Residual RMS
1.11 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 December 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 26.5
11.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1935 A1

Named

Sources