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Comet Near-Earth

ATLAS

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C/2023 E1 (ATLAS)

ATLAS is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.03 AU to 37.64 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 85.02 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 17 February 2024.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
10.71 AU
True anomaly
149.2°
Distance from Earth
10.008 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 — 10.71 AU from the Sun ATLAS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. ATLAS is 10.008 AU from Earth today (1.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
04h 20m 44s
Declination
-19° 05′ 21″
Constellation
Eridanus
Distance from Earth
10.01 AU
Elongation from the Sun
133.07° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
19.334 AU
Eccentricity
0.9469
Inclination
38.31°
Orbital period
85.02 years
Perihelion
1.027 AU
Aphelion
37.642 AU
Longitude of ascending node
164.57°
Argument of periapsis
105.89°
Epoch · J2000
2460127.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 142.2 LD
0.3653 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.242

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
3,004
Data arc
325 days
First observed
25 December 2022
Last observed
15 November 2023
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 February 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7
16.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2023 E1

Near-Earth Object Named

Sources