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Comet

NEOWISE

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C/2021 A7 (NEOWISE)

NEOWISE is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.97 AU to 14,190.5 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 597,792.1 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 28 June 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
15.313 AU
True anomaly
138.01°
Distance from Earth
15.099 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 — 15.313 AU from the Sun NEOWISE
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEOWISE is 15.099 AU from Earth today (2.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 22m 57s
Declination
+27° 43′ 35″
Constellation
Vulpecula
Distance from Earth
15.11 AU
Elongation from the Sun
100.13° — 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
7,096.235 AU
Eccentricity
0.9997
Inclination
78.15°
Orbital period
597,792.1 years
Perihelion
1.968 AU
Aphelion
14,190.502 AU
Longitude of ascending node
154.52°
Argument of periapsis
356.07°
Epoch · J2000
2459319.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 381.2 LD
0.9794 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.358

Orbit quality

Observations used
295
Data arc
532 days
First observed
9 January 2021
Last observed
25 June 2022
Residual RMS
0.65 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 June 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 9.5
11.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2021 A7

Named

Sources