Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

McNaught

Add to an observing list or journal →

C/2009 F2 (McNaught)

McNaught is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 5.88 AU to 686.4 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 6,440 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
31.806 AU
True anomaly
130.14°
Distance from Earth
31.523 AU
As of
25 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth McNaught — 31.806 AU from the Sun McNaught
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. McNaught is 31.523 AU from Earth today (4.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 41m 06s
Declination
+41° 10′ 27″
Constellation
Cygnus
Distance from Earth
31.52 AU
Elongation from the Sun
105.59° — 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
346.138 AU
Eccentricity
0.983
Inclination
59.37°
Orbital period
6,440 years
Perihelion
5.875 AU
Aphelion
686.402 AU
Longitude of ascending node
214.06°
Argument of periapsis
336.34°
Epoch · J2000
2455386.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,918.2 LD
4.9289 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.54

Orbit quality

Observations used
363
Data arc
3.35 years
First observed
19 March 2009
Last observed
23 July 2012
Residual RMS
0.82 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
6.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2009 F2

Named

Sources