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Comet Near-Earth

NEAT

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189P/NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.745 AU
True anomaly
237.98°
Distance from Earth
3.578 AU
As of
21 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 NEAT — 2.745 AU from the Sun NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT is 3.578 AU from Earth today (29.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 50m 36s
Declination
-15° 13′ 15″
Constellation
Crater
Distance from Earth
3.57 AU
Elongation from the Sun
28.99° — 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
2.918 AU
Eccentricity
0.5976
Inclination
20.4°
Orbital period
4.98 years
Perihelion
1.174 AU
Aphelion
4.661 AU
Longitude of ascending node
282.2°
Argument of periapsis
15.31°
Epoch · J2000
2454804.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 65.0 LD
0.167 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.909

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,469
Data arc
20.07 years
First observed
30 July 2002
Last observed
24 August 2022
Residual RMS
0.75 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 August 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
19.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 189P · 189P/2002 O5 · 189P/2007 N2

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 26 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of NEAT at 2073-06-30 14:14 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2073-06-30 14:14 UTC close approach of NEAT. Catalogue miss distance 189.7 LD · 7.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2073-06-27 to 2073-07-03, 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 189.7 LD · 7.29 × 10⁷ km 2073-06-30 14:14 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2073-06-30 14:14 UTC close approach of NEAT. Catalogue miss distance 189.7 LD · 7.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2073-06-27 to 2073-07-03, 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
2049-09-30 02:44:00 Juptr 0.8206 AU 319.3 LD 6.7 km/s
2073-06-30 14:14:00 Earth 0.4874 AU 189.7 LD 16.3 km/s
2078-07-16 07:08:00 Earth 0.434 AU 168.9 LD 12 km/s
2085-06-29 12:22:00 Juptr 1.5063 AU 586.2 LD 8.5 km/s
2097-04-15 10:40:00 Juptr 1.8976 AU 738.5 LD 8.8 km/s
2109-07-16 03:17:00 Earth 0.3854 AU 150.0 LD 11.4 km/s
2132-11-10 14:48:00 Juptr 1.0162 AU 395.5 LD 6.1 km/s
2145-06-26 15:58:00 Earth 0.3913 AU 152.3 LD 16.5 km/s
2150-07-10 19:32:00 Earth 0.1811 AU 70.5 LD 11.6 km/s
2155-07-26 13:42:00 Earth 0.4578 AU 178.2 LD 13.4 km/s

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

Sources