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Comet

Catalina

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367P/Catalina

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.824 AU
True anomaly
123.34°
Distance from Earth
2.938 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 — 3.824 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 2.938 AU from Earth today (24.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 31m 59s
Declination
-13° 42′ 58″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
2.95 AU
Elongation from the Sun
147.66° — 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
3.511 AU
Eccentricity
0.2799
Inclination
8.46°
Orbital period
6.58 years
Perihelion
2.528 AU
Aphelion
4.494 AU
Longitude of ascending node
58.74°
Argument of periapsis
173.48°
Epoch · J2000
2456029.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 590.6 LD
1.5177 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.042

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
129
Data arc
7.19 years
First observed
10 February 2011
Last observed
20 April 2018
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
14.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 367P · 367P/2011 CR42 · 367P/2018 H1

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2047-12-14 22:41:00 Juptr 0.4037 AU 157.1 LD 2.7 km/s
2047-12-14 22:41:00 Jupiter 0.4037 AU 157.1 LD 2.7 km/s
2098-09-02 03:16:00 Juptr 1.9692 AU 766.3 LD 3.1 km/s
2131-04-17 09:27:00 Juptr 0.4589 AU 178.6 LD 2.4 km/s
2131-04-17 09:27:00 Jupiter 0.4589 AU 178.6 LD 2.4 km/s

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

Sources