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Comet

Catalina

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509P/Catalina

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.938 AU
True anomaly
30.3°
Distance from Earth
4.129 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Catalina — 3.938 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 4.129 AU from Earth today (34.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 21m 48s
Declination
+11° 05′ 48″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
4.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
72.16° — 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
7.022 AU
Eccentricity
0.4635
Inclination
8.71°
Orbital period
18.61 years
Perihelion
3.767 AU
Aphelion
10.277 AU
Longitude of ascending node
275.82°
Argument of periapsis
179.54°
Epoch · J2000
2457808.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,083.3 LD
2.7836 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.776

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
610
Data arc
19.44 years
First observed
19 October 2006
Last observed
29 March 2026
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
27 April 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 16
7.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 509P · 509P/2007 C2 · 509P/2024 T6

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-03-18 03:45:00 Juptr 1.345 AU 523.4 LD 5.2 km/s
2064-05-03 03:07:00 Juptr 1.0556 AU 410.8 LD 7.2 km/s
2118-05-27 19:41:00 Juptr 0.7953 AU 309.5 LD 5.7 km/s
2159-06-03 02:26:00 Juptr 1.6212 AU 630.9 LD 9.1 km/s
2163-06-10 06:27:00 Satrn 1.7838 AU 694.2 LD 4.9 km/s

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

Sources