Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Catalina

Add to an observing list or journal →

C/2005 N5 (Catalina)

Catalina is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.63 AU to 55.75 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 153.6 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
34.492 AU
True anomaly
164.35°
Distance from Earth
35.217 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 Catalina — 34.492 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 35.217 AU from Earth today (4.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 25m 47s
Declination
+08° 21′ 59″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
35.21 AU
Elongation from the Sun
43.15° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
28.687 AU
Eccentricity
0.9433
Inclination
21.38°
Orbital period
153.6 years
Perihelion
1.627 AU
Aphelion
55.746 AU
Longitude of ascending node
156.41°
Argument of periapsis
207.77°
Epoch · J2000
2453631.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 252.9 LD
0.6497 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.633

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
233
Data arc
191 days
First observed
12 July 2005
Last observed
19 January 2006
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2005 N5

Named

Sources