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Comet

Tilbrook

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C/1997 O1 (Tilbrook)

Tilbrook is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.37 AU to 172.67 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 811.8 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
48.691 AU
True anomaly
163.58°
Distance from Earth
48.078 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 Tilbrook — 48.691 AU from the Sun Tilbrook
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Tilbrook is 48.078 AU from Earth today (6.7 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
04h 10m 34s
Declination
+57° 51′ 39″
Constellation
Camelopardalis
Distance from Earth
48.07 AU
Elongation from the Sun
128.01° — 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.

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
87.019 AU
Eccentricity
0.9842
Inclination
115.8°
Orbital period
811.8 years
Perihelion
1.372 AU
Aphelion
172.666 AU
Longitude of ascending node
231.25°
Argument of periapsis
336.19°
Epoch · J2000
2450716.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 159.3 LD
0.4092 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.57

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
115
Data arc
243 days
First observed
23 July 1997
Last observed
23 March 1998
Residual RMS
0.79 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1997 O1

Named

Sources