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Comet Near-Earth

ATLAS

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490P/ATLAS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.806 AU
True anomaly
168.39°
Distance from Earth
4.578 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 ATLAS — 4.806 AU from the Sun ATLAS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. ATLAS is 4.578 AU from Earth today (38.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 51m 47s
Declination
+31° 02′ 39″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
4.57 AU
Elongation from the Sun
97.83° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.025 AU
Eccentricity
0.6485
Inclination
12.28°
Orbital period
5.26 years
Perihelion
1.063 AU
Aphelion
4.987 AU
Longitude of ascending node
307.6°
Argument of periapsis
332.53°
Epoch · J2000
2458818.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 29.7 LD
0.0764 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.854

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
368
Data arc
5.79 years
First observed
19 February 2019
Last observed
2 December 2024
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
3 December 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
20.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 490P · 490P/2019 M2 · 490P/2024 C6

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 17 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of ATLAS at 2104-07-29 08:26 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2104-07-29 08:26 UTC close approach of ATLAS. Catalogue miss distance 35.2 LD · 1.35 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2104-07-26 to 2104-08-01, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 35.2 LD · 1.35 × 10⁷ km 2104-07-29 08:26 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2104-07-29 08:26 UTC close approach of ATLAS. Catalogue miss distance 35.2 LD · 1.35 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2104-07-26 to 2104-08-01, 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. 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
2037-05-15 05:18:00 Juptr 0.8432 AU 328.2 LD 6.4 km/s
2049-10-03 10:25:00 Juptr 0.9624 AU 374.5 LD 8.5 km/s
2084-11-28 07:46:00 Juptr 1.6957 AU 659.9 LD 9.4 km/s
2097-03-21 05:24:00 Juptr 0.4312 AU 167.8 LD 6.8 km/s
2097-03-21 05:24:00 Jupiter 0.4312 AU 167.8 LD 6.8 km/s
2104-07-29 08:26:00 Earth 0.0905 AU 35.2 LD 13.5 km/s
2132-06-21 03:09:00 Juptr 0.748 AU 291.1 LD 6.4 km/s
2144-07-26 20:00:00 Juptr 1.6319 AU 635.1 LD 10.5 km/s
2179-12-11 14:29:00 Juptr 0.7266 AU 282.8 LD 6.4 km/s
2192-02-18 14:43:00 Juptr 1.1198 AU 435.8 LD 8.7 km/s

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

Sources