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Comet

Sorrells

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C/1986 V1 (Sorrells)

Sorrells is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.72 AU to 46,486.95 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 3,543,920.1 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
63.648 AU
True anomaly
161.08°
Distance from Earth
64.602 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Sorrells — 63.648 AU from the Sun Sorrells
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Sorrells is 64.602 AU from Earth today (9.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 10m 16s
Declination
-23° 29′ 53″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
64.6 AU
Elongation from the Sun
16.71° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
23,244.336 AU
Eccentricity
0.9999
Inclination
160.58°
Orbital period
3,543,920.1 years
Perihelion
1.721 AU
Aphelion
46,486.951 AU
Longitude of ascending node
74.8°
Argument of periapsis
70.23°
Epoch · J2000
2446850.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 321.9 LD
0.8271 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.534

Orbit quality

Observations used
360
Data arc
321 days
First observed
2 November 1986
Last observed
19 September 1987
Residual RMS
0.63 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
5.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13.5
5.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1986 V1

Named

Sources