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Comet

Catalina

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C/2021 C3 (Catalina)

Catalina is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.28 AU to 124.39 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 504.1 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 21 June 2024.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
15.42 AU
True anomaly
137.43°
Distance from Earth
14.639 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 Catalina — 15.42 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 14.639 AU from Earth today (2.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 35m 08s
Declination
+47° 27′ 48″
Constellation
Cassiopeia
Distance from Earth
14.64 AU
Elongation from the Sun
140.54° — 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
63.335 AU
Eccentricity
0.9641
Inclination
122.16°
Orbital period
504.1 years
Perihelion
2.277 AU
Aphelion
124.394 AU
Longitude of ascending node
181.92°
Argument of periapsis
357.15°
Epoch · J2000
2459301.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 498.3 LD
1.2805 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.905

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
363
Data arc
144 days
First observed
16 January 2021
Last observed
9 June 2021
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 June 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2021 C3

Named

Sources