IRAS is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.42 AU to 534.8 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 4,390.1 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 66.582 AU
- True anomaly
- 164.29°
- Distance from Earth
- 66.106 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 06h 10m 39s
- Declination
- +37° 33′ 50″
- Constellation
- Auriga
- Distance from Earth
- 66.1 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 119.11° — 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.
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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
- 268.111 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.9947
- Inclination
- 152.17°
- Orbital period
- 4,390.1 years
- Perihelion
- 1.417 AU
- Aphelion
- 534.805 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 119.69°
- Argument of periapsis
- 227.02°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2445484.5
- Orbit class · COM
- Comet
- Earth MOID · 200.1 LD
- 0.5141 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- -1.284
Orbit quality
- Observations used
- 7
- Data arc
- 25 days
- First observed
- 18 May 1983
- Last observed
- 12 June 1983
- Residual RMS
- 0.7 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Discovery & classification
Also known as 1983 J2
Sources
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB