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Comet

McNaught

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442P/McNaught

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.27 AU
True anomaly
163.42°
Distance from Earth
7.774 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 — 7.27 AU from the Sun McNaught
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. McNaught is 7.774 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 28m 11s
Declination
+15° 08′ 33″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
7.76 AU
Elongation from the Sun
57.05° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
4.971 AU
Eccentricity
0.5316
Inclination
6.05°
Orbital period
11.08 years
Perihelion
2.328 AU
Aphelion
7.613 AU
Longitude of ascending node
32.03°
Argument of periapsis
310.97°
Epoch · J2000
2458350.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 516.0 LD
1.3259 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.693

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
452
Data arc
22.03 years
First observed
28 November 2000
Last observed
10 December 2022
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 July 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 19.3
10.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 442P · 442P/2011 Q3 · 442P/2022 G1

Named

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2040-07-07 08:42:00 Juptr 1.8903 AU 735.7 LD 4.9 km/s
2053-04-14 13:37:00 Juptr 0.8589 AU 334.3 LD 4.9 km/s
2065-03-09 17:46:00 Juptr 0.7796 AU 303.4 LD 5 km/s
2106-08-11 03:55:00 Juptr 1.6731 AU 651.1 LD 4.9 km/s
2108-06-06 23:56:00 Juptr 1.6397 AU 638.1 LD 4.2 km/s
2119-11-13 06:31:00 Jupiter 0.4396 AU 171.1 LD 6.5 km/s
2119-11-13 06:31:00 Juptr 0.4396 AU 171.1 LD 6.5 km/s
2124-11-10 10:01:00 Satrn 1.8558 AU 722.2 LD 4 km/s
2131-12-25 15:28:00 Juptr 0.8668 AU 337.4 LD 8.6 km/s

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

Sources