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Comet

Cardinal

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C/2010 B1 (Cardinal)

Cardinal is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.94 AU to 5,846.98 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 158,193.3 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 26 June 2025.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
32.539 AU
True anomaly
145.1°
Distance from Earth
32.962 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 Cardinal — 32.539 AU from the Sun Cardinal
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Cardinal is 32.962 AU from Earth today (4.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 28m 21s
Declination
-26° 32′ 56″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
32.97 AU
Elongation from the Sun
63.61° — 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
2,924.96 AU
Eccentricity
0.999
Inclination
101.98°
Orbital period
158,193.3 years
Perihelion
2.941 AU
Aphelion
5,846.979 AU
Longitude of ascending node
277.21°
Argument of periapsis
211.52°
Epoch · J2000
2455495.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 804.1 LD
2.0661 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.439

Orbit quality

Observations used
2,090
Data arc
2.7 years
First observed
19 January 2010
Last observed
3 October 2012
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 June 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.5
9.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2010 B1

Named

Sources