Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
Live Orbital Tracker
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C/2025 N1 | JPL orbital solution | Keplerian hyperbolic propagation | Real-time
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eccentricity (e) | 6.141 hyperbolic - interstellar confirmed |
| Perihelion dist. (q) | 1.3565 AU between Earth & Mars orbits |
| Inclination (i) | 175.11° retrograde, near-ecliptic |
| Asc. node (Omega) | 322.16° |
| Arg. perihelion (omega) | 128.01° |
| Perihelion time (T) | 2025-Oct-29.49 TT JD 2460978.0 |
| Physical / Derived | Value |
|---|---|
| vinf (hyperbolic excess) | ~ 57.9 km/s asymptotic interstellar speed |
| Speed at perihelion | ~ 68 km/s Solar escape velocity at 1.36 AU |
| Semi-latus rectum (l) | - AU |
| Origin (kinematics) | Milky Way thin/thick disk U,V,W ~ -51,-20,+18 km/s |
| Earth closest approach | 2025-Dec-19 1.7976 AU (~269 M km) |
| Jupiter flyby | 2026-Mar-16 0.357 AU - gravitational deflection |
| Object | Eccentricity | Inclination | vinf (km/s) | Type | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1I/'Oumuamua | 1.199 | 122.7° | 26.3 | Inactive | cigar-shaped | 2017 |
| 2I/Borisov | 3.357 | 44.1° | 32.1 | Active comet | 2019 |
| 3I/ATLAS * | 6.141 | 175.1° | 57.9 | Active comet | H2O,CO2,CO | 2025 |
| Date (UTC) | r (AU) | Delta Earth (AU) | Speed (km/s) | Mag (est.) | RA (h m s) | Dec (° ' ") | Elong. |
|---|
How position is computed in this tracker
> Hyperbolic Kepler equation: M = e|sinh(F) - F solved via Newton-Raphson iteration (converges in <10 steps for e=6.14)
> True anomaly: tan(nu/2) = sqrt((e+1)/(e-1)) | tanh(F/2)
> Heliocentric radius: r = q|(1+e) / (1 + e|cos nu)
> Ecliptic X,Y,Z from nu via Euler rotation: Omega, i, omega (JPL J2000.0 ecliptic)
> Earth position from VSOP87 low-precision L,B,R series truncated to 6 terms
> RA/Dec via ecliptic->equatorial rotation (eps = 23.4393°)
> Magnitude: m = H + 5|log10(r|Delta) + 2.5|log10((1-G)|Phi1 + G|Phi2)
Orbital elements: JPL SBDB solution #51 | Epoch JD 2460978.0 | e=6.141 | q=1.3565 AU | i=175.11° | Omega=322.16° | omega=128.01°