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Comet Near-Earth

BATTERS

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C/2001 W2 (BATTERS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
32.08 AU
True anomaly
174.1°
Distance from Earth
32.456 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.

Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth BATTERS — 32.08 AU from the Sun BATTERS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. BATTERS is 32.456 AU from Earth today (4.5 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 35m 27s
Declination
-20° 49′ 11″
Constellation
Pyxis
Distance from Earth
32.45 AU
Elongation from the Sun
67.53° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
17.929 AU
Eccentricity
0.9414
Inclination
115.91°
Orbital period
75.91 years
Perihelion
1.051 AU
Aphelion
34.806 AU
Longitude of ascending node
113.36°
Argument of periapsis
142.09°
Epoch · J2000
2452248.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 56.7 LD
0.1456 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.257

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
350
Data arc
198 days
First observed
21 November 2001
Last observed
7 June 2002
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10.8
12.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2001 W2

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources