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Comet

ASH

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P/2011 N1 (ASH)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.501 AU
True anomaly
268.06°
Distance from Earth
4.432 AU
As of
22 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth ASH — 4.501 AU from the Sun ASH
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. ASH is 4.432 AU from Earth today (36.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 29m 46s
Declination
-50° 31′ 15″
Constellation
Indus
Distance from Earth
4.44 AU
Elongation from the Sun
86.9° — 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
6.294 AU
Eccentricity
0.5459
Inclination
35.67°
Orbital period
15.79 years
Perihelion
2.858 AU
Aphelion
9.73 AU
Longitude of ascending node
77.69°
Argument of periapsis
331.06°
Epoch · J2000
2455925.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 744.2 LD
1.9123 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.324

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
269
Data arc
2.72 years
First observed
1 July 2011
Last observed
21 March 2014
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 5.3
12.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2011 N1

Named

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2103-03-04 06:47:00 Juptr 1.8871 AU 734.4 LD 8.5 km/s
2163-01-04 17:43:00 Satrn 1.3687 AU 532.7 LD 6.4 km/s
2192-09-26 21:45:00 Satrn 1.8407 AU 716.4 LD 5.3 km/s

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

Sources