About 321P/SOHO
321P/SOHO is an uncommon comet. It swings within 0.047 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
Dives perilously close to the Sun — most don't survive the encounter.
Uncommon comet 30 EP
321P/SOHO
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 3 badgesUncommon 33 pts → Rare
- Sungrazer +16
- Has a proper name +8
- Comet +6
Total score 30
3 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Comet · +6
- Sungrazer · +16
- Has a proper name · +8
Trivia
What makes it special
- Sungrazer. Dives perilously close to the Sun — most don't survive the encounter.
How we found it
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Cosmic context
- Wild orbit. Its highly elliptical path swings between scorching and frozen each lap.
- Tail. Its tail always points away from the Sun, never trailing behind its motion.
Properties
- eccentricity
- 0.9807
- inclination
- 19.74
- name
- 321P/SOHO
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- JFc
- perihelion au
- 0.0468
- semi major au
- 2.427
- sungrazer
- yes
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, 321P/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 321P/SOHO is an uncommon comet
321P/SOHO scores 30 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Comet, Sungrazer and Has a proper name — 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.