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Comet

NEAT

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502P/NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.922 AU
True anomaly
55.11°
Distance from Earth
4.158 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth NEAT — 4.922 AU from the Sun NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT is 4.158 AU from Earth today (34.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 58m 28s
Declination
+08° 04′ 54″
Constellation
Pisces
Distance from Earth
4.16 AU
Elongation from the Sun
135.83° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
8.044 AU
Eccentricity
0.4721
Inclination
11.39°
Orbital period
22.81 years
Perihelion
4.246 AU
Aphelion
11.842 AU
Longitude of ascending node
264.61°
Argument of periapsis
37.24°
Epoch · J2000
2458571.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,260.6 LD
3.2392 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.796

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
341
Data arc
24.31 years
First observed
11 June 2002
Last observed
4 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 15.3
7.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 502P · 502P/2003 QX29 · 502P/2025 H1

Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-04-10 20:51:00 Satrn 1.5877 AU 617.9 LD 4.2 km/s
2093-01-09 19:46:00 Juptr 1.0983 AU 427.4 LD 4.8 km/s
2113-09-02 16:41:00 Juptr 0.5559 AU 216.3 LD 5.8 km/s
2119-09-08 17:51:00 Satrn 1.7483 AU 680.4 LD 6.8 km/s

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

Sources