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Comet Near-Earth

Catalina

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P/2009 WX51 (Catalina)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.371 AU
True anomaly
123.9°
Distance from Earth
2.8 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Catalina — 2.371 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 2.8 AU from Earth today (23.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 43m 26s
Declination
-29° 29′ 04″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
2.81 AU
Elongation from the Sun
54.64° — 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
3.08 AU
Eccentricity
0.7403
Inclination
9.59°
Orbital period
5.41 years
Perihelion
0.8 AU
Aphelion
5.361 AU
Longitude of ascending node
31.76°
Argument of periapsis
118.02°
Epoch · J2000
2455174.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 3.6 LD
0.0093 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.709

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
113
Data arc
146 days
First observed
22 November 2009
Last observed
17 April 2010
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
20.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2009 WX51

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 26 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Catalina at 2037-04-18 03:09 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-04-18 03:09 UTC close approach of Catalina. Catalogue miss distance 20.9 LD · 8.03 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-04-15 to 2037-04-21, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 20.9 LD · 8.03 × 10⁶ km 2037-04-18 03:09 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-04-18 03:09 UTC close approach of Catalina. Catalogue miss distance 20.9 LD · 8.03 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-04-15 to 2037-04-21, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-03-17 16:24:00 Juptr 1.0649 AU 414.4 LD 10.3 km/s
2037-04-18 03:09:00 Earth 0.0537 AU 20.9 LD 17.6 km/s
2045-06-28 09:46:00 Juptr 0.7488 AU 291.4 LD 7.1 km/s
2048-04-24 14:32:00 Earth 0.2126 AU 82.7 LD 21.7 km/s
2057-10-21 10:37:00 Juptr 0.5943 AU 231.3 LD 9.4 km/s
2069-12-14 23:07:00 Earth 0.2413 AU 93.9 LD 20.3 km/s
2092-09-27 00:51:00 Juptr 1.9097 AU 743.2 LD 13.4 km/s
2102-05-16 04:38:00 Earth 0.4659 AU 181.3 LD 30.1 km/s
2104-08-26 19:03:00 Juptr 0.7706 AU 299.9 LD 7.4 km/s
2113-01-26 01:07:00 Earth 0.2251 AU 87.6 LD 14.2 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources