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Comet

ATLAS

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C/2024 A2 (ATLAS)

ATLAS is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.88 AU to 62.83 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 184.1 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 13 February 2025.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
8.451 AU
True anomaly
127.06°
Distance from Earth
7.863 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 — 8.451 AU from the Sun ATLAS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. ATLAS is 7.863 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 41m 06s
Declination
+63° 15′ 33″
Constellation
Cassiopeia
Distance from Earth
7.87 AU
Elongation from the Sun
123.4° — 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
32.357 AU
Eccentricity
0.9418
Inclination
119.11°
Orbital period
184.1 years
Perihelion
1.882 AU
Aphelion
62.832 AU
Longitude of ascending node
78.17°
Argument of periapsis
295.58°
Epoch · J2000
2460496.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 485.1 LD
1.2465 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.655

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
497
Data arc
373 days
First observed
15 January 2024
Last observed
22 January 2025
Residual RMS
0.29 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 February 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
14.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2024 A2

Named

Sources