Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

McNaught

Add to an observing list or journal →

260P/McNaught

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.503 AU
True anomaly
19.46°
Distance from Earth
0.548 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 McNaught — 1.503 AU from the Sun McNaught
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. McNaught is 0.548 AU from Earth today (4.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 23m 38s
Declination
+30° 20′ 15″
Constellation
Andromeda
Distance from Earth
0.55 AU
Elongation from the Sun
152.31° — 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
3.663 AU
Eccentricity
0.5986
Inclination
15.8°
Orbital period
7.01 years
Perihelion
1.47 AU
Aphelion
5.856 AU
Longitude of ascending node
351.86°
Argument of periapsis
15.35°
Epoch · J2000
2457542.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 183.7 LD
0.472 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.714

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
7,585
Data arc
21.4 years
First observed
20 May 2005
Last observed
13 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.8
12.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 260P · 260P/2005 K3 · 260P/2012 K2

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-04-25 06:59:00 Juptr 1.8249 AU 710.2 LD 10.9 km/s
2063-08-17 00:36:00 Juptr 0.2085 AU 81.1 LD 7.1 km/s
2063-08-17 00:36:00 Jupiter 0.2085 AU 81.1 LD 7.1 km/s
2087-08-13 07:12:00 Juptr 1.7579 AU 684.1 LD 10.6 km/s
2124-12-11 16:15:00 Juptr 1.4446 AU 562.2 LD 8.4 km/s
2148-09-03 00:45:00 Juptr 0.9988 AU 388.7 LD 5.6 km/s
2172-04-02 17:00:00 Juptr 1.0205 AU 397.1 LD 5.2 km/s
2196-01-27 01:05:00 Juptr 0.9747 AU 379.3 LD 5.8 km/s

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

Sources