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Comet

Catalina

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C/1999 F1 (Catalina)

Catalina is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 5.79 AU to 13,675.53 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 565,789.8 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 9 June 2026.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
42.606 AU
True anomaly
136.81°
Distance from Earth
41.79 AU
As of
25 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 Catalina — 42.606 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 41.79 AU from Earth today (5.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 08m 15s
Declination
+36° 53′ 51″
Constellation
Andromeda
Distance from Earth
41.79 AU
Elongation from the Sun
144.59° — 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
6,840.659 AU
Eccentricity
0.9992
Inclination
92.04°
Orbital period
565,789.8 years
Perihelion
5.787 AU
Aphelion
13,675.531 AU
Longitude of ascending node
20.02°
Argument of periapsis
255.16°
Epoch · J2000
2452028.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 2,122.4 LD
5.4535 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.105

Orbit quality

Observations used
172
Data arc
6.46 years
First observed
13 March 1999
Last observed
28 August 2005
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.3
6.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1999 F1

Named

Sources