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Comet Near-Earth

Catalina

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300P/Catalina

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.401 AU
True anomaly
212.07°
Distance from Earth
4.306 AU
As of
11 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 — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Catalina — 3.401 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 4.306 AU from Earth today (35.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 55m 46s
Declination
+05° 10′ 46″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
4.3 AU
Elongation from the Sun
22.44° — 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
2.699 AU
Eccentricity
0.6916
Inclination
5.68°
Orbital period
4.43 years
Perihelion
0.832 AU
Aphelion
4.566 AU
Longitude of ascending node
95.69°
Argument of periapsis
222.87°
Epoch · J2000
2458122.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 8.5 LD
0.0218 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.963

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
148
Data arc
9.19 years
First observed
1 February 2014
Last observed
11 April 2023
Residual RMS
0.8 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
14 November 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 20.5
16.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 300P · 300P/2005 JQ5 · 300P/2014 G2

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 35 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Catalina at 2027-10-23 00:17 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-23 00:17 UTC close approach of Catalina. Catalogue miss distance 92.3 LD · 3.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-20 to 2027-10-26, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 92.3 LD · 3.55 × 10⁷ km 2027-10-23 00:17 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-23 00:17 UTC close approach of Catalina. Catalogue miss distance 92.3 LD · 3.55 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-20 to 2027-10-26, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-10-23 00:17:00 Earth 0.2371 AU 92.3 LD 22.2 km/s
2036-06-08 21:45:00 Earth 0.0534 AU 20.8 LD 17.4 km/s
2036-07-22 12:16:00 Venus 0.1461 AU 56.9 LD 10.7 km/s
2038-10-29 00:05:00 Juptr 0.8238 AU 320.6 LD 5.3 km/s
2058-06-28 15:44:00 Earth 0.1181 AU 46.0 LD 13.5 km/s
2062-12-15 00:05:00 Venus 0.1293 AU 50.3 LD 11.4 km/s
2074-05-28 10:03:00 Juptr 1.3268 AU 516.4 LD 7.4 km/s
2080-05-19 07:18:00 Earth 0.2827 AU 110.0 LD 25.7 km/s
2086-05-29 02:13:00 Juptr 1.5967 AU 621.4 LD 8 km/s
2093-08-06 12:34:00 Earth 0.2184 AU 85.0 LD 14.1 km/s

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

Sources