IRAS is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.42 AU to 7,669.31 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 237,576.3 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 67.052 AU
- True anomaly
- 158.2°
- Distance from Earth
- 66.956 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
- 08h 37m 56s
- Declination
- +56° 11′ 20″
- Constellation
- Ursa Major
- Distance from Earth
- 66.95 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 95.51° — 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
- 3,835.864 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.9994
- Inclination
- 138.83°
- Orbital period
- 237,576.3 years
- Perihelion
- 2.418 AU
- Aphelion
- 7,669.31 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 171.8°
- Argument of periapsis
- 265.59°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2445694.5
- Orbit class · COM
- Comet
- Earth MOID · 691.1 LD
- 1.7759 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- -1.45
Orbit quality
- Observations used
- 19
- Data arc
- 297 days
- First observed
- 14 July 1983
- Last observed
- 6 May 1984
- Residual RMS
- 0.53 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Discovery & classification
Also known as 1983 N1
Sources
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB