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Comet

NEAT

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163P/NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.471 AU
True anomaly
71.27°
Distance from Earth
3.221 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 NEAT — 2.471 AU from the Sun NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT is 3.221 AU from Earth today (26.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 56m 54s
Declination
+09° 19′ 56″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
3.22 AU
Elongation from the Sun
35.06° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.682 AU
Eccentricity
0.4759
Inclination
12.52°
Orbital period
7.07 years
Perihelion
1.93 AU
Aphelion
5.434 AU
Longitude of ascending node
103.28°
Argument of periapsis
348.18°
Epoch · J2000
2454083.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 368.9 LD
0.948 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.858

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
357
Data arc
35.9 years
First observed
24 October 1990
Last observed
19 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.82 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
21 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 19
12.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 163P · 163P/2004 V4

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2068-01-22 09:57:00 Juptr 0.728 AU 283.3 LD 6.3 km/s
2114-11-18 10:09:00 Juptr 0.1166 AU 45.4 LD 5.7 km/s
2114-11-18 10:09:00 Jupiter 0.1166 AU 45.4 LD 5.7 km/s
2138-07-31 00:30:00 Juptr 1.4504 AU 564.5 LD 8.2 km/s
2172-12-12 22:04:00 Juptr 1.4766 AU 574.7 LD 7.6 km/s
2197-02-17 21:00:00 Juptr 0.4782 AU 186.1 LD 4.6 km/s
2197-02-17 21:00:00 Jupiter 0.4782 AU 186.1 LD 4.6 km/s

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

Sources