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Comet

Hill

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P/2009 O3 (Hill)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
9.68 AU
True anomaly
213.46°
Distance from Earth
10.62 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 Hill — 9.68 AU from the Sun Hill
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Hill is 10.62 AU from Earth today (1.5 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 52m 08s
Declination
-03° 22′ 37″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
10.62 AU
Elongation from the Sun
18.3° — too close to the Sun to observe

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
7.824 AU
Eccentricity
0.6869
Inclination
16.22°
Orbital period
21.89 years
Perihelion
2.45 AU
Aphelion
13.199 AU
Longitude of ascending node
183.76°
Argument of periapsis
154.55°
Epoch · J2000
2455082.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 565.3 LD
1.4526 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.377

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
328
Data arc
163 days
First observed
24 July 2009
Last observed
3 January 2010
Residual RMS
0.65 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2009 O3

Named

Close approaches 3 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2070-01-07 18:10:00 Saturn 0.201 AU 78.2 LD 7.2 km/s
2070-01-07 18:10:00 Satrn 0.201 AU 78.2 LD 7.2 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources