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Comet

NEOWISE

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C/2018 N1 (NEOWISE)

NEOWISE is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.31 AU to 842.62 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 8,668.1 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 20 June 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
21.559 AU
True anomaly
151.84°
Distance from Earth
21.944 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 — 21.559 AU from the Sun NEOWISE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEOWISE is 21.944 AU from Earth today (3.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 12m 13s
Declination
+22° 53′ 51″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
21.94 AU
Elongation from the Sun
66.11° — 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
421.965 AU
Eccentricity
0.9969
Inclination
159.44°
Orbital period
8,668.1 years
Perihelion
1.307 AU
Aphelion
842.622 AU
Longitude of ascending node
292.44°
Argument of periapsis
354.56°
Epoch · J2000
2458322.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 113.8 LD
0.2924 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.314

Orbit quality

Observations used
263
Data arc
295 days
First observed
15 December 2017
Last observed
6 October 2018
Residual RMS
0.66 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 June 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 11.8
14.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2018 N1

Named

Sources