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Comet

Catalina

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C/2014 J1 (Catalina)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
15.575 AU
True anomaly
179.04°
Distance from Earth
14.586 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 — 15.575 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 14.586 AU from Earth today (2.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 36m 20s
Declination
+15° 45′ 28″
Constellation
Pisces
Distance from Earth
14.59 AU
Elongation from the Sun
173.64° — near opposition — up most of the night

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
8.646 AU
Eccentricity
0.8024
Inclination
159.7°
Orbital period
25.42 years
Perihelion
1.709 AU
Aphelion
15.584 AU
Longitude of ascending node
41.94°
Argument of periapsis
195.48°
Epoch · J2000
2456794.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 276.8 LD
0.7112 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.841

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
103
Data arc
44 days
First observed
9 May 2014
Last observed
22 June 2014
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
16.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2014 J1

Named

Sources