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Comet

ATLAS

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C/2018 V2 (ATLAS)

ATLAS is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.47 AU to 48.49 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 128.6 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
18.014 AU
True anomaly
144.89°
Distance from Earth
18.731 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 ATLAS — 18.014 AU from the Sun ATLAS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. ATLAS is 18.731 AU from Earth today (2.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 45m 31s
Declination
-02° 42′ 05″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
18.74 AU
Elongation from the Sun
42.4° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
25.484 AU
Eccentricity
0.9029
Inclination
159.11°
Orbital period
128.6 years
Perihelion
2.475 AU
Aphelion
48.492 AU
Longitude of ascending node
356.79°
Argument of periapsis
318.66°
Epoch · J2000
2458560.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 592.6 LD
1.5228 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.573

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
173
Data arc
297 days
First observed
18 October 2018
Last observed
11 August 2019
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.3
13.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2018 V2

Named

Close approaches 2 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2137-01-11 21:59:00 Urnus 0.7244 AU 281.9 LD 12.9 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources