169P/NEAT

Jupiter-family comet March 2026 other comets discovered by the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking survey Comet NEAT (disambiguation) 169P/NEAT 169P_20260812-0454UT.png 169P/NEAT on 12 August 2026 at 4:54 UT with a Unistellar 114mm smart telescope. NEAT 15 March 2002 P/2002 EX 12 jpldata MPC 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5) 36.15 years 7 March 1989 1,374 0.604 AU 4.603 AU 2.604 AU 0.76796 4.201 years 11.285° 176.04° 218.13° 288.59° 2.888 0.142 AU 0.978 AU Mueller_2018 2.5 km mi 8.369 hours 16.8 21 September 2026 1 December 2030Horizons2030 169P/NEAT is a periodic comet in the Solar System roughly 5 km in diameter with a 4.2 year orbit around the Sun. It is the parent body of the alpha Capricornids meteor shower in late July that may become a major shower around the 23rd century. 169/NEAT may be related to comet P/2003 T12 (SOHO).https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mpml/conversations/topics/29117 169P NEAT and P/2003 T12 - 300 years ago 31 May 2014 31 May 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140531234240/https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mpml/conversations/topics/29117 dead Alvarez_2024 As of mid-September 2026, the comet was around apparent magnitude 11.Van_Buitenen cobs On 2 August 2026 the comet passed less than 1 degree from M13, the Hercules cluster. The closest approach to Earth was on 11 August 2026 at a distance of 0.167 AU e6km unit.Van_Buitenen At perihelion on 21 September 2026 the solar elongation was 34 degrees at a magnitude of approximately 11.Van_Buitenen +169P/NEAT closest Earth approach on 2026-Aug-11jpldata Date & time ofclosest approach Earth distance(AU) Sun distance(AU) Velocitywrt Earth(km/s) Velocitywrt Sun(km/s) Uncertaintyregion(3-sigma) Solarelongation Reference 2026-Aug-11 19:34 0.167 AU e6km e6mi unit 0.953 AU e6km e6mi unit 19.9 39.0 ± 33 km 64° Horizons Physical characteristics 169P is a low activity comet roughly about 5.0 km mi in diameter,Mueller_2018 Sosa_2015 with a rotation period lasting about 8.4 hours.Mueller_2018 It could have originated from the main asteroid belt.Alvarez_2024 Orbit It came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 9 July 2022MPC and on 13 July 2022 passed 0.1395 AU e6km unit from Venus.jpldata On 11 August 2026, it passed 0.1672 AU e6km unit from Earth and reached perihelion on 21 September 2026. It will next come to perihelion on 1 December 2030.Horizons2030 169P has a similar stable orbit with the smaller body P/2003 T 12 (SOHO), both avoiding close encounters with Jupiter. It is possible that both comets likely fragmented from a parent body a bit over 2,000 years ago.Alvarez_2024 Sosa_2015 A further fragmentation even about 4,500 to 5,000 years ago could have produced the meteors of the alpha Capricornids meteor shower. The total estimated mass of the meteors is similar to that of the surviving comet.Jenniskens_2010 References S. R. Alvarez A. S. Oyarzabal Comet P/2003 T 12 (SOHO): A possible fragment of comet 169P/NEAT? Planetary and Space Science 2024 246 105902 10.1016/j.pss.2024.105902 P. Jenniskens J. Vaubaillon Minor Planet 2002 EX 12 (169P/NEAT) and the Alpha Capricornid Shower The Astronomical Journal 2010 139 5 1822–1830 10.1088/0004-6256/139/5/1822 169P/NEAT – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=169P&view=OPC ssd.jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion Laboratory 22 June 2022 169P/NEAT Orbit http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=169P Minor Planet Center 2 June 2014 COBS Observation list: 169P https://www.cobs.si/obs_list?id=111 Crni Vrh Observatory 2026-08-03 Comet 169P/NEAT Lightcurve B. E. A. Mueller N. H. Samarasinha Further Investigation of Changes in Cometary Rotation The Astronomical Journal 2018 156 3 107–114 2018AJ....156..107M 1806.11158 10.3847/1538-3881/aad0a1 free (Table #3) A. Sosa J. A. Fernández A. Fitzsimmons Comets 169P/NEAT and P/2003 T 12 (SOHO): Two possible fragments of a common ancestor? American Astronomical Society 2015 29 2015IAUGA..2255583S G. van Buitenen 169P/NEAT https://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/comet/169 astro.vanbuitenen.nl 2026-04-14 Horizons Batch for 169P/NEAT on 2030-Dec-01 JPL Horizons Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%27169P%27&START_TIME=%272030-Dec-01%27&STOP_TIME=%272030-Dec-02%27&STEP_SIZE=%273%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27 2026-09-21 (JPL#165 Soln.date: 2026-Sep-21) External links 1001656 169P 169P/NEAT at the Minor Planet Center database 169P/NEAT at the Comet OBServation database (COBS) 169P/NEAT at Seiichi Yoshida's website 169P/NEAT at Gideon van Buitenen's website 168P/Hergenrother 170P/Christensen Category:Periodic comets 169P 0169 169P # 169P 169P 169P 169P 169P