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Comet

McNaught

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C/2011 L1 (McNaught)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
19.581 AU
True anomaly
175.4°
Distance from Earth
19.091 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 McNaught — 19.581 AU from the Sun McNaught
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. McNaught is 19.091 AU from Earth today (2.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 31m 13s
Declination
+61° 27′ 56″
Constellation
Cepheus
Distance from Earth
19.09 AU
Elongation from the Sun
118.23° — 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
11.035 AU
Eccentricity
0.7968
Inclination
65.51°
Orbital period
36.66 years
Perihelion
2.242 AU
Aphelion
19.828 AU
Longitude of ascending node
252.36°
Argument of periapsis
294.47°
Epoch · J2000
2455734.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 626.7 LD
1.6103 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.201

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
140
Data arc
103 days
First observed
2 June 2011
Last observed
13 September 2011
Residual RMS
0.84 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.5
10.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2011 L1

Named

Sources