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Comet

Lovejoy

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C/2007 K5 (Lovejoy)

Lovejoy is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.15 AU to 97.46 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 346.2 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
36.085 AU
True anomaly
163.62°
Distance from Earth
36.688 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 Lovejoy — 36.085 AU from the Sun Lovejoy
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Lovejoy is 36.688 AU from Earth today (5.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 00m 58s
Declination
+30° 39′ 52″
Constellation
Corona Borealis
Distance from Earth
36.69 AU
Elongation from the Sun
51.89° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
49.307 AU
Eccentricity
0.9767
Inclination
64.88°
Orbital period
346.2 years
Perihelion
1.149 AU
Aphelion
97.465 AU
Longitude of ascending node
193.74°
Argument of periapsis
255.58°
Epoch · J2000
2454266.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 233.5 LD
0.5999 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.666

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
48
Data arc
50 days
First observed
29 May 2007
Last observed
18 July 2007
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
12

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2007 K5

Named

Sources