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Comet

NEAT

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473P/NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.908 AU
True anomaly
145.24°
Distance from Earth
8.893 AU
As of
24 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth NEAT — 7.908 AU from the Sun NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT is 8.893 AU from Earth today (1.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 32m 02s
Declination
-16° 17′ 48″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
8.89 AU
Elongation from the Sun
7.5° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
7.927 AU
Eccentricity
0.8225
Inclination
56.95°
Orbital period
22.32 years
Perihelion
1.407 AU
Aphelion
14.447 AU
Longitude of ascending node
22.18°
Argument of periapsis
43.11°
Epoch · J2000
2454679.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 214.7 LD
0.5516 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.422

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
520
Data arc
22.81 years
First observed
18 August 2001
Last observed
8 June 2024
Residual RMS
0.7 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 June 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 25.8
11.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 473P · 473P/2001 Q6 · 473P/2023 W1

Named

Sources