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Comet

NEAT

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P/2001 H5 (NEAT)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.739 AU
True anomaly
212.81°
Distance from Earth
6.809 AU
As of
22 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth NEAT — 7.739 AU from the Sun NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT is 6.809 AU from Earth today (56.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
02h 57m 27s
Declination
+26° 36′ 45″
Constellation
Aries
Distance from Earth
6.8 AU
Elongation from the Sun
158.53° — 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
5.994 AU
Eccentricity
0.6002
Inclination
8.4°
Orbital period
14.68 years
Perihelion
2.397 AU
Aphelion
9.592 AU
Longitude of ascending node
329.56°
Argument of periapsis
224.88°
Epoch · J2000
2452032.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 547.0 LD
1.4055 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.567

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
43
Data arc
98 days
First observed
20 March 2001
Last observed
26 June 2001
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 24
7.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2001 H5

Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-09-18 19:24:00 Juptr 0.994 AU 386.9 LD 7 km/s
2103-12-01 14:45:00 Juptr 1.2471 AU 485.3 LD 6.5 km/s
2199-02-19 01:41:00 Juptr 0.8287 AU 322.5 LD 11.5 km/s

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

Sources