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Comet

NEOWISE

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C/2014 N3 (NEOWISE)

NEOWISE is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 3.88 AU to 11,602.47 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 442,086.2 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
25.509 AU
True anomaly
134.12°
Distance from Earth
26.036 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 NEOWISE — 25.509 AU from the Sun NEOWISE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEOWISE is 26.036 AU from Earth today (3.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 50m 05s
Declination
+42° 24′ 13″
Constellation
Canes Venatici
Distance from Earth
26.03 AU
Elongation from the Sun
57.37° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
5,803.177 AU
Eccentricity
0.9993
Inclination
61.64°
Orbital period
442,086.2 years
Perihelion
3.882 AU
Aphelion
11,602.472 AU
Longitude of ascending node
19.93°
Argument of periapsis
353.57°
Epoch · J2000
2457239.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,124.0 LD
2.8881 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.161

Orbit quality

Observations used
1,594
Data arc
2.51 years
First observed
4 July 2014
Last observed
6 January 2017
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.5
5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2014 N3

Named

Sources