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Comet

Catalina

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C/2021 U5 (Catalina)

Catalina is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.36 AU to 431.87 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 3,199.3 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 29 November 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
13.761 AU
True anomaly
131.73°
Distance from Earth
14.113 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 — 13.761 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 14.113 AU from Earth today (2.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 07m 26s
Declination
+14° 22′ 19″
Constellation
Hercules
Distance from Earth
14.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
66.72° — 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
217.117 AU
Eccentricity
0.9891
Inclination
39.05°
Orbital period
3,199.3 years
Perihelion
2.363 AU
Aphelion
431.872 AU
Longitude of ascending node
182.76°
Argument of periapsis
321.47°
Epoch · J2000
2459629.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 570.0 LD
1.4647 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.5

Orbit quality

Observations used
463
Data arc
301 days
First observed
29 October 2021
Last observed
26 August 2022
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
29 November 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
4.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 28.5
4.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2021 U5

Named

Sources