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Comet Near-Earth

NEOWISE

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463P/NEOWISE

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.9 AU
True anomaly
192.31°
Distance from Earth
4.383 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 NEOWISE — 4.9 AU from the Sun NEOWISE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEOWISE is 4.383 AU from Earth today (36.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 48m 36s
Declination
+07° 18′ 09″
Constellation
Delphinus
Distance from Earth
4.39 AU
Elongation from the Sun
115.15° — 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
2.976 AU
Eccentricity
0.8253
Inclination
29.44°
Orbital period
5.13 years
Perihelion
0.52 AU
Aphelion
5.433 AU
Longitude of ascending node
283.72°
Argument of periapsis
215.91°
Epoch · J2000
2459433.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 133.3 LD
0.3424 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.492

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
114
Data arc
10.85 years
First observed
6 September 2012
Last observed
13 July 2023
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 April 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 8.5
18.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 463P · 463P/2018 HT3

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 32 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of NEOWISE at 2053-12-28 18:49 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2053-12-28 18:49 UTC close approach of NEOWISE. Catalogue miss distance 148.4 LD · 5.7 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2053-12-25 to 2053-12-31, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 148.4 LD · 5.7 × 10⁷ km 2053-12-28 18:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2053-12-28 18:49 UTC close approach of NEOWISE. Catalogue miss distance 148.4 LD · 5.7 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2053-12-25 to 2053-12-31, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-10-27 01:59:00 Juptr 1.5383 AU 598.7 LD 14.6 km/s
2053-12-28 18:49:00 Earth 0.3813 AU 148.4 LD 28.3 km/s
2054-01-01 13:16:00 Venus 0.1423 AU 55.4 LD 29.5 km/s
2056-11-04 04:00:00 Juptr 1.7611 AU 685.4 LD 8.9 km/s
2089-12-19 00:16:00 Earth 0.3627 AU 141.1 LD 27.7 km/s
2092-02-10 19:35:00 Juptr 1.4741 AU 573.7 LD 9 km/s
2100-06-06 00:07:00 Earth 0.4081 AU 158.8 LD 34.5 km/s
2125-11-05 08:52:00 Earth 0.4196 AU 163.3 LD 34.8 km/s
2127-08-02 06:03:00 Juptr 1.1951 AU 465.1 LD 9.8 km/s
2131-01-08 18:16:00 Earth 0.457 AU 177.9 LD 29.5 km/s

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

Sources