Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

McKenzie-Russell

Add to an observing list or journal →

C/1989 Y2 (McKenzie-Russell)

McKenzie-Russell is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.98 AU to 1,125,737.77 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 422,299,152.8 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
60.464 AU
True anomaly
159.17°
Distance from Earth
60.47 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 McKenzie-Russell — 60.464 AU from the Sun McKenzie-Russell
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. McKenzie-Russell is 60.47 AU from Earth today (8.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 17m 59s
Declination
-22° 47′ 27″
Constellation
Capricornus
Distance from Earth
60.49 AU
Elongation from the Sun
88.41° — well clear of the Sun

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
562,869.874 AU
Eccentricity
1
Inclination
160.34°
Orbital period
422,299,152.8 years
Perihelion
1.976 AU
Aphelion
1,125,737.773 AU
Longitude of ascending node
293.9°
Argument of periapsis
191.74°
Epoch · J2000
2447890.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 387.7 LD
0.9962 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.641

Orbit quality

Observations used
45
Data arc
50 days
First observed
2 December 1989
Last observed
21 January 1990
Residual RMS
0.94 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
10

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1989 Y2

Named

Sources