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Comet

McNaught

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P/2012 O1 (McNaught)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.011 AU
True anomaly
111.65°
Distance from Earth
2.595 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth McNaught — 3.011 AU from the Sun McNaught
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. McNaught is 2.595 AU from Earth today (21.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 59m 00s
Declination
+16° 52′ 59″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
2.59 AU
Elongation from the Sun
105.41° — 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
3.563 AU
Eccentricity
0.5792
Inclination
11.43°
Orbital period
6.73 years
Perihelion
1.499 AU
Aphelion
5.627 AU
Longitude of ascending node
111.28°
Argument of periapsis
222.11°
Epoch · J2000
2456162.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 198.8 LD
0.5109 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.783

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
98
Data arc
123 days
First observed
18 July 2012
Last observed
18 November 2012
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
18.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2012 O1

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of McNaught at 2052-08-26 00:47 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2052-08-26 00:47 UTC close approach of McNaught. Catalogue miss distance 186.8 LD · 7.18 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2052-08-23 to 2052-08-29, 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 186.8 LD · 7.18 × 10⁷ km 2052-08-26 00:47 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2052-08-26 00:47 UTC close approach of McNaught. Catalogue miss distance 186.8 LD · 7.18 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2052-08-23 to 2052-08-29, 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
2052-08-26 00:47:00 Earth 0.4801 AU 186.8 LD 2.7 km/s
2063-07-06 09:15:00 Juptr 0.5513 AU 214.5 LD 5.8 km/s
2074-03-16 13:20:00 Juptr 0.9381 AU 365.1 LD 7.5 km/s
2122-02-20 06:16:00 Juptr 0.5967 AU 232.2 LD 4.9 km/s
2170-04-25 08:51:00 Jupiter 0.4604 AU 179.2 LD 6.4 km/s
2170-04-25 08:51:00 Juptr 0.4604 AU 179.2 LD 6.4 km/s

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

Sources