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Comet

Thiele

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C/1985 T1 (Thiele)

Thiele is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.32 AU to 156.26 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 699.4 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
59.511 AU
True anomaly
166.5°
Distance from Earth
60.402 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 Thiele — 59.511 AU from the Sun Thiele
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Thiele is 60.402 AU from Earth today (8.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 37m 34s
Declination
-30° 33′ 31″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
60.4 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.37° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
78.788 AU
Eccentricity
0.9833
Inclination
139.07°
Orbital period
699.4 years
Perihelion
1.317 AU
Aphelion
156.259 AU
Longitude of ascending node
53.01°
Argument of periapsis
53°
Epoch · J2000
2446415.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 200.2 LD
0.5143 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.005

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
133
Data arc
541 days
First observed
9 October 1985
Last observed
3 April 1987
Residual RMS
0.74 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13.5
9.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1985 T1

Named

Sources