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Comet

NEAT

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243P/NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.869 AU
True anomaly
62.97°
Distance from Earth
2.28 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 — 2.869 AU from the Sun NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT is 2.28 AU from Earth today (19.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 11m 05s
Declination
+21° 13′ 36″
Constellation
Orion
Distance from Earth
2.28 AU
Elongation from the Sun
117.23° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.831 AU
Eccentricity
0.3591
Inclination
7.64°
Orbital period
7.5 years
Perihelion
2.455 AU
Aphelion
5.206 AU
Longitude of ascending node
87.67°
Argument of periapsis
283.77°
Epoch · J2000
2456020.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 572.1 LD
1.47 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.946

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
828
Data arc
23.06 years
First observed
1 August 2003
Last observed
24 August 2026
Residual RMS
0.73 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
25 August 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 18.3
9.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 243P · 243P/2003 S2 · 243P/2010 P5

Named

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2052-05-06 05:18:00 Juptr 0.6595 AU 256.7 LD 2.8 km/s
2084-04-04 13:06:00 Juptr 1.5366 AU 598.0 LD 3.8 km/s
2088-07-30 04:58:00 Juptr 1.6207 AU 630.7 LD 5.9 km/s
2111-08-28 05:51:00 Juptr 1.2531 AU 487.7 LD 4.2 km/s
2115-04-10 13:08:00 Juptr 1.3753 AU 535.2 LD 2.2 km/s
2147-03-31 19:21:00 Juptr 1.3628 AU 530.4 LD 4.2 km/s
2151-08-01 02:49:00 Juptr 1.2732 AU 495.5 LD 2.4 km/s
2194-09-07 21:24:00 Juptr 1.9918 AU 775.2 LD 5.5 km/s
2200-02-03 10:40:00 Juptr 1.1984 AU 466.4 LD 2.9 km/s

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

Sources