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Comet

NEOWISE

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C/2022 F2 (NEOWISE)

NEOWISE is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.59 AU to 46.29 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 117.1 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 26 August 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
13.035 AU
True anomaly
144.99°
Distance from Earth
12.205 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 — 13.035 AU from the Sun NEOWISE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEOWISE is 12.205 AU from Earth today (1.7 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
04h 15m 05s
Declination
+05° 45′ 14″
Constellation
Taurus
Distance from Earth
12.2 AU
Elongation from the Sun
145.74° — 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
23.939 AU
Eccentricity
0.9338
Inclination
97.29°
Orbital period
117.1 years
Perihelion
1.585 AU
Aphelion
46.293 AU
Longitude of ascending node
58.69°
Argument of periapsis
200.63°
Epoch · J2000
2459684.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 238.3 LD
0.6124 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.022

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
108
Data arc
90 days
First observed
30 March 2022
Last observed
28 June 2022
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 August 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2022 F2

Named

Sources