Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Rankin

Add to an observing list or journal →

P/2024 T2 (Rankin)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.627 AU
True anomaly
127.14°
Distance from Earth
6.575 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 Rankin — 5.627 AU from the Sun Rankin
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Rankin is 6.575 AU from Earth today (54.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 52m 22s
Declination
-05° 44′ 08″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
6.58 AU
Elongation from the Sun
15.9° — 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
6.176 AU
Eccentricity
0.6807
Inclination
12.93°
Orbital period
15.35 years
Perihelion
1.972 AU
Aphelion
10.38 AU
Longitude of ascending node
113.06°
Argument of periapsis
343.83°
Epoch · J2000
2460691.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 386.2 LD
0.9925 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.398

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
437
Data arc
210 days
First observed
4 October 2024
Last observed
2 May 2025
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
8 May 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2024 T2

Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2041-12-07 16:56:00 Juptr 1.0806 AU 420.5 LD 10.5 km/s
2048-06-10 11:04:00 Saturn 0.4182 AU 162.8 LD 4.3 km/s
2048-06-10 11:04:00 Satrn 0.4182 AU 162.8 LD 4.3 km/s
2069-06-03 00:01:00 Juptr 0.9193 AU 357.8 LD 9 km/s
2076-02-26 13:39:00 Satrn 1.2943 AU 503.7 LD 5.4 km/s
2088-11-26 12:07:00 Juptr 1.5384 AU 598.7 LD 7.2 km/s

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

Sources