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Comet

Catalina

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P/2015 W2 (Catalina)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
11.843 AU
True anomaly
186.15°
Distance from Earth
12.724 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Catalina — 11.843 AU from the Sun Catalina
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina is 12.724 AU from Earth today (1.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 27m 25s
Declination
-28° 04′ 12″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
12.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.51° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
7.32 AU
Eccentricity
0.6341
Inclination
11.61°
Orbital period
19.8 years
Perihelion
2.678 AU
Aphelion
11.962 AU
Longitude of ascending node
294.25°
Argument of periapsis
117.63°
Epoch · J2000
2457361.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 667.0 LD
1.714 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.508

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
188
Data arc
81 days
First observed
13 November 2015
Last observed
2 February 2016
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 21.3
8.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2015 W2

Named

Close approaches 1 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2157-04-24 02:55:00 Juptr 1.3062 AU 508.3 LD 6.6 km/s

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

Sources