Araya is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 4.86 AU to 19,332.2 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 950,711.5 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 75.54 AU
- True anomaly
- 150.67°
- Distance from Earth
- 75.753 AU
- As of
- 25 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 18h 33m 26s
- Declination
- +27° 52′ 15″
- Constellation
- Lyra
- Distance from Earth
- 75.76 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 76.85° — 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.
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
- 9,668.528 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.9995
- Inclination
- 113.09°
- Orbital period
- 950,711.5 years
- Perihelion
- 4.861 AU
- Aphelion
- 19,332.195 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 314.89°
- Argument of periapsis
- 267.21°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2441860.5
- Orbit class · COM
- Comet
- Earth MOID · 1,770.3 LD
- 4.549 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- -1.071
Orbit quality
- Observations used
- 71
- Data arc
- 2.58 years
- First observed
- 15 November 1972
- Last observed
- 17 June 1975
- Residual RMS
- 0.37 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Discovery & classification
Also known as 1972 X1
Sources
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB