
Astro Corner
Your corner of the universe.
Celestial object
C/1996 P2 (Russell-Watson)
1996 P2, C/1996 P2 (Russell-Watson), Russell-Watson
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Reference data
RADate-dependentMoving object · use an ephemeris
DecDate-dependentMoving object · use an ephemeris
Magnitude—
Angular size—
Position angle—
Distance—
Constellation—
Solar System catalogue
JPL SBDBMoving-object reference
Comets and minor planets move against the background sky. Astro Corner therefore keeps their orbital catalogue record separately and does not pretend a single RA/Dec is permanently correct.
Primary designation1996 P2
JPL SPK-ID1000179
Orbit classHYP
Orbit IDJPL 17
Near-Earth objectNo
Potentially hazardousNo
Epoch · JD2450406.5
Eccentricity1.000083535492
Semi-major axis-24011.991404426 AU
Perihelion distance2.005853507 AU
Orbital period—
Earth MOID0.992994000 AU
Jupiter Tisserand—
Inclination29.08312963°
Absolute magnitude · H—
Comet total magnitude · M15.0000 · K1 12.0000
Diameter—
Albedo—
Last catalogue sync2026-09-18 07:50:02
Planning coordinates are intentionally separate.A later Horizons ephemeris layer can calculate the object's apparent position for a specific date, time and observing location. Until then, static-sky tools are hidden for this record rather than showing misleading coordinates.
Open JPL Small-Body Database Reference transparencySources & data provenanceSee where catalogue identities and imported reference fields came from.4 records
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Published Guides that reference this canonical object.
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Images of this object
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