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Comet Near-Earth

NEOWISE

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C/2015 X8 (NEOWISE)

NEOWISE is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.19 AU to 37.91 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 86.44 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
22.413 AU
True anomaly
162.78°
Distance from Earth
21.502 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth NEOWISE — 22.413 AU from the Sun NEOWISE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEOWISE is 21.502 AU from Earth today (3.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 28m 30s
Declination
+01° 34′ 07″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
21.51 AU
Elongation from the Sun
155.34° — 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
19.549 AU
Eccentricity
0.9391
Inclination
155.28°
Orbital period
86.44 years
Perihelion
1.19 AU
Aphelion
37.908 AU
Longitude of ascending node
191.11°
Argument of periapsis
20.4°
Epoch · J2000
2457409.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 84.4 LD
0.2168 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.944

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
116
Data arc
683 days
First observed
14 December 2015
Last observed
27 October 2017
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2015 X8

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources