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Comet

Catalina

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C/2016 KA (Catalina)

Catalina is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 5.4 AU to 10,340.76 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 372,076.3 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 6 July 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
23.13 AU
True anomaly
122.26°
Distance from Earth
23.387 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 Catalina — 23.13 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 23.387 AU from Earth today (3.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 17m 37s
Declination
+10° 22′ 33″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
23.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
74.39° — 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
5,173.08 AU
Eccentricity
0.999
Inclination
104.63°
Orbital period
372,076.3 years
Perihelion
5.4 AU
Aphelion
10,340.76 AU
Longitude of ascending node
317.56°
Argument of periapsis
63.09°
Epoch · J2000
2457557.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,885.3 LD
4.8444 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.727

Orbit quality

Observations used
79
Data arc
322 days
First observed
16 May 2016
Last observed
3 April 2017
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 July 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.5
7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2016 KA

Named

Sources