Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Rankin

Add to an observing list or journal →

C/2021 C1 (Rankin)

Rankin is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 3.48 AU to 18,171.86 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 866,337.1 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 18 May 2023.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
15.571 AU
True anomaly
123.58°
Distance from Earth
15.106 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 Rankin — 15.571 AU from the Sun Rankin
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Rankin is 15.106 AU from Earth today (2.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
05h 48m 56s
Declination
+61° 04′ 31″
Constellation
Camelopardalis
Distance from Earth
15.1 AU
Elongation from the Sun
116.75° — 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
9,087.669 AU
Eccentricity
0.9996
Inclination
143.04°
Orbital period
866,337.1 years
Perihelion
3.481 AU
Aphelion
18,171.856 AU
Longitude of ascending node
186.89°
Argument of periapsis
336.31°
Epoch · J2000
2459299.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 977.5 LD
2.5118 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.848

Orbit quality

Observations used
164
Data arc
390 days
First observed
5 February 2021
Last observed
2 March 2022
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
18 May 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 11.3
11.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2021 C1

Named

Sources