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Comet

NEAT

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312P/NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.264 AU
True anomaly
304.76°
Distance from Earth
2.307 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 NEAT — 2.264 AU from the Sun NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT is 2.307 AU from Earth today (19.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 14m 09s
Declination
-14° 38′ 52″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
2.31 AU
Elongation from the Sun
74.57° — well clear of the Sun

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
3.459 AU
Eccentricity
0.4301
Inclination
19.79°
Orbital period
6.43 years
Perihelion
1.971 AU
Aphelion
4.947 AU
Longitude of ascending node
144.89°
Argument of periapsis
207.69°
Epoch · J2000
2457970.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 382.4 LD
0.9826 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.889

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
161
Data arc
19.39 years
First observed
18 August 2001
Last observed
7 January 2021
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 April 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.5
16.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 312P · 312P/2001 Q11 · 312P/2014 R2

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2075-01-17 10:17:00 Juptr 0.6771 AU 263.5 LD 4.5 km/s
2087-04-01 10:32:00 Juptr 1.5388 AU 598.9 LD 7.4 km/s
2158-02-03 19:32:00 Juptr 0.7221 AU 281.0 LD 4.4 km/s
2170-03-26 01:47:00 Juptr 1.4261 AU 555.0 LD 7.2 km/s

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

Sources