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Comet

Cameron-ISON

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P/2015 PD229 (Cameron-ISON)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
9.344 AU
True anomaly
196.1°
Distance from Earth
10.125 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Cameron-ISON — 9.344 AU from the Sun Cameron-ISON
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Cameron-ISON is 10.125 AU from Earth today (1.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 40m 44s
Declination
+01° 47′ 05″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
10.12 AU
Elongation from the Sun
36.54° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
7.177 AU
Eccentricity
0.3267
Inclination
2.03°
Orbital period
19.23 years
Perihelion
4.832 AU
Aphelion
9.522 AU
Longitude of ascending node
342.77°
Argument of periapsis
352.37°
Epoch · J2000
2457316.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,487.2 LD
3.8214 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.944

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
110
Data arc
547 days
First observed
27 May 2015
Last observed
24 November 2016
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 May 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13.5
7.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2015 PD229

Named

Close approaches 2 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2127-11-20 21:42:00 Satrn 1.0963 AU 426.7 LD 4 km/s
2186-09-24 02:31:00 Satrn 0.8305 AU 323.2 LD 3.8 km/s

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

Sources