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Comet

NEAT

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291P/NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.917 AU
True anomaly
150.19°
Distance from Earth
6.911 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 — 5.917 AU from the Sun NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT is 6.911 AU from Earth today (57.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 39m 11s
Declination
-13° 20′ 26″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
6.91 AU
Elongation from the Sun
3.62° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
4.55 AU
Eccentricity
0.4305
Inclination
5.96°
Orbital period
9.71 years
Perihelion
2.591 AU
Aphelion
6.509 AU
Longitude of ascending node
241.04°
Argument of periapsis
176.03°
Epoch · J2000
2456222.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 624.0 LD
1.6034 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.823

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
950
Data arc
20.59 years
First observed
29 July 2003
Last observed
2 March 2024
Residual RMS
0.75 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 May 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 19
8.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 291P · 291P/2003 S1 · 291P/2013 N2

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2064-07-08 16:18:00 Juptr 0.6754 AU 262.8 LD 6 km/s
2079-01-27 00:29:00 Juptr 0.9199 AU 358.0 LD 3.9 km/s
2159-07-16 12:32:00 Juptr 0.9605 AU 373.8 LD 3.9 km/s
2174-01-26 14:19:00 Juptr 0.6826 AU 265.6 LD 5.9 km/s

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

Sources