169P/NEAT
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase	PA
Today	26 Jul 2026	14.7	1.166 AU	0.250 AU	17h57m	+27°30'	121.7°	47.8°	140°
Nearest approach	11 Aug 2026	13.4	0.953 AU	0.167 AU	13h59m	+41°29'	64.2°	106.7°	88°
Perihelion	21 Sep 2026	15.3	0.604 AU	0.627 AU	09h36m	+07°12'	34.6°	109.2°	279°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the comet's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

Light curve

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the comet's magnitude. Blue and black dots are visual and photometric CCD observations from COBS. This lightcurve is being recalculated every 6 hours based on the available COBS/MPC observations (currently 17.4 + 5 log[∆] + 5.0 log[r]). An additional green curve is displayed when an increase in apparent brightness is expected due to forward scattering of sunlight, which occurs when a dust-rich comet is located between the Earth and the Sun. (See Marcus 2007)

Charts

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the comet over the same period as the light curve. The comet's current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the short-term path of the comet in a field of view that is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Orbital elements

The orbital elements of 169P/NEAT are:

    e (Eccentricity)                : 0.7679100
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 0.6043280
    i (Inclination)                 : 11.28500
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 176.03180
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 218.13740
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 213.62715
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -6.94104
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2461304.88770
    P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.20

    Epoch                           : 2026 Jul 25
    Reference                       : MPEC 2026-O53

    Classification(s):              : Ecliptic; Jupiter family
    Tisserand (Jupiter)             : 2.887

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-07-25 00:00 UT   18 04 47.1   +26 26 10     0.258    1.180  123.9   45.6   142   14.8 
2026-07-26 00:00 UT   17 58 03.7   +27 26 20     0.250    1.167  121.8   47.7   140   14.7 
2026-07-26 01:28 UT   17 57 38.0   +27 30 04     0.250    1.166  121.7   47.8   140   14.7 
2026-07-27 00:00 UT   17 50 47.8   +28 28 24     0.242    1.154  119.6   49.9   138   14.6 
2026-07-28 00:00 UT   17 42 56.1   +29 32 18     0.234    1.141  117.2   52.3   136   14.5 
2026-07-29 00:00 UT   17 34 24.9   +30 37 49     0.226    1.129  114.7   54.8   133   14.4 
2026-07-30 00:00 UT   17 25 09.9   +31 44 44     0.219    1.116  112.0   57.5   131   14.3 
2026-07-31 00:00 UT   17 15 06.8   +32 52 38     0.212    1.103  109.2   60.3   129   14.2 
2026-08-01 00:00 UT   17 04 11.0   +34 01 00     0.205    1.090  106.2   63.3   126   14.2 
2026-08-02 00:00 UT   16 52 17.6   +35 09 09     0.199    1.078  103.1   66.5   123   14.1 
2026-08-03 00:00 UT   16 39 22.2   +36 16 10     0.194    1.065   99.8   69.9   121   14.0 
2026-08-04 00:00 UT   16 25 20.6   +37 20 56     0.188    1.052   96.3   73.4   118   13.9 
2026-08-05 00:00 UT   16 10 10.0   +38 22 04     0.183    1.039   92.7   77.2   114   13.8 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between comet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between comet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-comet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-comet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km      
    

Orbital elements usually provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Observations contributed by observers worldwide, via COBS (Comet Observation Database) or the MPC (Minor Planet Center)
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.