About C/2003 K3 (SOHO)
C/2003 K3 (SOHO) is an uncommon comet. It swings within 0.139 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
On a near-parabolic path — this may well be its one and only visit to the inner Solar System.
Uncommon comet 24 EP
C/2003 K3 (SOHO)
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 3 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Near-parabolic comet +10
- Has a proper name +8
- Comet +6
Total score 24
10 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Comet · +6
- Has a proper name · +8
- Near-parabolic comet · +10
Trivia
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. On a near-parabolic path — this may well be its one and only visit to the inner Solar System.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 0.14 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Mercury.
- Wild orbit. Its highly elliptical path swings between scorching and frozen each lap.
Standing on it
- Sunlight there. At closest approach the Sun beats down about 51.8 times harder than it ever does on Earth.
- Growing a tail. Once inside roughly the orbit of Mars the ice starts turning straight to gas, blowing out the coma and tail that make a comet a comet.
- Tail. Its tail always points away from the Sun, never trailing behind its motion — it is blown, not dragged.
By the numbers
- Made of. A comet is a dirty snowball: water ice, frozen carbon dioxide and dust, held together loosely enough that some simply crumble when the Sun warms them.
What's in a name
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- designation
- 2003 K3
- eccentricity
- 1
- full name
- C/2003 K3 (SOHO)
- inclination
- 39.53
- name
- C/2003 K3 (SOHO)
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- PAR
- perihelion au
- 0.139
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, C/2003 K3 (SOHO) is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why C/2003 K3 (SOHO) is an uncommon comet
C/2003 K3 (SOHO) scores 24 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 10 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Comet, Has a proper name and Near-parabolic comet — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.