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Comet

Catalina

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C/2022 L1 (Catalina)

Catalina is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.59 AU to 1,097.93 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 12,890.6 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 13 February 2023.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
12.897 AU
True anomaly
139.09°
Distance from Earth
12.718 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 — 12.897 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 12.718 AU from Earth today (1.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 31m 58s
Declination
+05° 36′ 49″
Constellation
Canis Minor
Distance from Earth
12.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
98.35° — 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
549.763 AU
Eccentricity
0.9971
Inclination
123.47°
Orbital period
12,890.6 years
Perihelion
1.592 AU
Aphelion
1,097.935 AU
Longitude of ascending node
300.02°
Argument of periapsis
59.85°
Epoch · J2000
2459821.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 339.3 LD
0.8718 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.853

Orbit quality

Observations used
415
Data arc
253 days
First observed
31 May 2022
Last observed
8 February 2023
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 February 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 16.8
13.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2022 L1

Named

Sources