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Comet

NEOWISE

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C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)

NEOWISE is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.29 AU to 716.64 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 6,787.1 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 30 July 2024.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
18.8 AU
True anomaly
165.8°
Distance from Earth
19.724 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 NEOWISE — 18.8 AU from the Sun NEOWISE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEOWISE is 19.724 AU from Earth today (2.7 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 28m 17s
Declination
-32° 29′ 48″
Constellation
Centaurus
Distance from Earth
19.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
21.14° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
358.468 AU
Eccentricity
0.9992
Inclination
128.94°
Orbital period
6,787.1 years
Perihelion
0.295 AU
Aphelion
716.641 AU
Longitude of ascending node
61.01°
Argument of periapsis
37.28°
Epoch · J2000
2459036.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 141.1 LD
0.3625 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.408

Orbit quality

Observations used
1,315
Data arc
438 days
First observed
27 March 2020
Last observed
8 June 2021
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 July 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.3
12.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 F3

Named

Sources