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Comet

McNaught

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C/2013 F3 (McNaught)

McNaught is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.25 AU to 1,520.48 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 21,008.6 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
29.522 AU
True anomaly
148.23°
Distance from Earth
28.946 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 McNaught — 29.522 AU from the Sun McNaught
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. McNaught is 28.946 AU from Earth today (4.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
05h 43m 48s
Declination
+36° 37′ 48″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
28.94 AU
Elongation from the Sun
124.78° — 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
761.366 AU
Eccentricity
0.997
Inclination
85.44°
Orbital period
21,008.6 years
Perihelion
2.253 AU
Aphelion
1,520.479 AU
Longitude of ascending node
266.11°
Argument of periapsis
18.76°
Epoch · J2000
2456463.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 495.8 LD
1.274 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.155

Orbit quality

Observations used
301
Data arc
151 days
First observed
29 March 2013
Last observed
27 August 2013
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2013 F3

Named

Sources