Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

McNaught

Add to an observing list or journal →

378P/McNaught

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
8.91 AU
True anomaly
160.78°
Distance from Earth
8.463 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 — 8.91 AU from the Sun McNaught
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. McNaught is 8.463 AU from Earth today (1.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 24m 00s
Declination
+21° 35′ 09″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
8.45 AU
Elongation from the Sun
114.66° — 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
6.364 AU
Eccentricity
0.4688
Inclination
19.11°
Orbital period
16.06 years
Perihelion
3.381 AU
Aphelion
9.348 AU
Longitude of ascending node
94.52°
Argument of periapsis
194.16°
Epoch · J2000
2458985.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 921.4 LD
2.3675 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.664

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
828
Data arc
22.62 years
First observed
30 May 2003
Last observed
12 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 January 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
12.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 378P · 378P/2005 Y2 · 378P/2019 E2

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2067-08-23 08:53:00 Juptr 1.8328 AU 713.3 LD 8.2 km/s
2113-06-25 17:09:00 Juptr 1.8318 AU 712.9 LD 7.2 km/s
2121-04-20 17:40:00 Satrn 0.3527 AU 137.3 LD 4.1 km/s
2121-04-20 17:40:00 Saturn 0.3527 AU 137.3 LD 4.1 km/s
2150-03-16 04:11:00 Satrn 0.3387 AU 131.8 LD 4.5 km/s
2150-03-16 04:11:00 Saturn 0.3387 AU 131.8 LD 4.5 km/s
2177-09-18 20:35:00 Juptr 1.8053 AU 702.6 LD 9.7 km/s

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

Sources