About C/2012 Q1 (Kowalski)
C/2012 Q1 (Kowalski) is an uncommon comet. It swings within 9.482 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
A Jupiter-family comet, herded by Jupiter's gravity into a short orbit of under twenty years.
Uncommon comet 33 EP
C/2012 Q1 (Kowalski)
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 5 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Never comes near the Sun +10
- Has a proper name +8
- Comet +6
- Jupiter-family comet +5
- Steeply tilted orbit (i > 40°) +4
Total score 33
1 more point to reach Rare.
Badges
- Comet · +6
- Has a proper name · +8
- Jupiter-family comet · +5
- Never comes near the Sun · +10
- Steeply tilted orbit (i > 40°) · +4
Trivia
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. A Jupiter-family comet, herded by Jupiter's gravity into a short orbit of under twenty years.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 9.48 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Saturn.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 134 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 9.48 and 42.78 AU from the Sun.
Standing on it
- 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
- aphelion au
- 42.78
- designation
- 2012 Q1
- eccentricity
- 0.6371
- full name
- C/2012 Q1 (Kowalski)
- inclination
- 45.18
- mean motion deg day
- 0.0074
- moid au
- 8.59
- name
- C/2012 Q1 (Kowalski)
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- JFc
- perihelion au
- 9.482
- semi major au
- 26.13
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, C/2012 Q1 (Kowalski) 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/2012 Q1 (Kowalski) is an uncommon comet
C/2012 Q1 (Kowalski) scores 33 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Comet, Has a proper name, Jupiter-family comet, Never comes near the Sun and Steeply tilted orbit (i > 40°) — 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.