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Comet

Tucker

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C/2004 Q1 (Tucker)

Tucker is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.05 AU to 371.43 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 2,551.9 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
40.971 AU
True anomaly
155.59°
Distance from Earth
41.955 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 Tucker — 40.971 AU from the Sun Tucker
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Tucker is 41.955 AU from Earth today (5.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 30m 01s
Declination
-16° 52′ 31″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
41.96 AU
Elongation from the Sun
8.6° — 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
186.739 AU
Eccentricity
0.989
Inclination
56.09°
Orbital period
2,551.9 years
Perihelion
2.047 AU
Aphelion
371.432 AU
Longitude of ascending node
22.13°
Argument of periapsis
32.97°
Epoch · J2000
2453350.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 446.0 LD
1.146 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.015

Orbit quality

Observations used
1,972
Data arc
615 days
First observed
22 August 2004
Last observed
29 April 2006
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 8.5
9.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2004 Q1

Named

Sources