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Comet

NEAT

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272P/NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.438 AU
True anomaly
173.19°
Distance from Earth
6.33 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 — 6.438 AU from the Sun NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT is 6.33 AU from Earth today (52.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 19m 08s
Declination
-25° 48′ 33″
Constellation
Capricornus
Distance from Earth
6.34 AU
Elongation from the Sun
91.04° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
4.446 AU
Eccentricity
0.4565
Inclination
18.19°
Orbital period
9.37 years
Perihelion
2.416 AU
Aphelion
6.476 AU
Longitude of ascending node
111.52°
Argument of periapsis
26.2°
Epoch · J2000
2455296.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 562.0 LD
1.4442 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.733

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
189
Data arc
19.21 years
First observed
1 December 2003
Last observed
14 February 2023
Residual RMS
0.72 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
22 February 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 18.5
10.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 272P · 272P/2004 F1 · 272P/2012 V3

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2043-10-13 03:47:00 Jupiter 0.4007 AU 155.9 LD 7.4 km/s
2043-10-13 03:47:00 Juptr 0.4007 AU 155.9 LD 7.4 km/s
2059-06-29 19:12:00 Juptr 1.6545 AU 643.9 LD 5.7 km/s
2103-01-26 23:15:00 Juptr 0.7195 AU 280.0 LD 8.3 km/s
2130-01-21 15:42:00 Juptr 1.8391 AU 715.7 LD 9 km/s
2185-12-31 21:18:00 Juptr 0.3324 AU 129.4 LD 7.4 km/s

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

Sources