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Comet

NEAT

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212P/NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.461 AU
True anomaly
154.42°
Distance from Earth
6.022 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 NEAT — 5.461 AU from the Sun NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT is 6.022 AU from Earth today (50.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 21m 39s
Declination
-19° 30′ 22″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
6.03 AU
Elongation from the Sun
51.2° — 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
3.924 AU
Eccentricity
0.579
Inclination
22.41°
Orbital period
7.77 years
Perihelion
1.652 AU
Aphelion
6.196 AU
Longitude of ascending node
98.91°
Argument of periapsis
14.98°
Epoch · J2000
2455565.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 263.2 LD
0.6764 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.635

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
154
Data arc
23.35 years
First observed
1 December 2000
Last observed
8 April 2024
Residual RMS
0.7 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 April 2024

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.85 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.096
Absolute magnitude (H)
16.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 8.8
16.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 212P · 212P/2000 YN30

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-10-18 22:35:00 Juptr 1.2225 AU 475.8 LD 6.8 km/s
2068-08-31 19:59:00 Juptr 1.8276 AU 711.2 LD 10.5 km/s
2102-10-04 13:13:00 Juptr 0.5922 AU 230.5 LD 9.1 km/s
2126-07-12 17:43:00 Juptr 0.9538 AU 371.2 LD 10.1 km/s
2163-11-18 00:02:00 Juptr 1.9764 AU 769.2 LD 10.3 km/s
2187-06-23 16:57:00 Juptr 1.5034 AU 585.1 LD 6.5 km/s

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

Sources