About C/2022 QE78 (ATLAS)
C/2022 QE78 (ATLAS) is a rare comet. It swings within 5.477 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
On a hyperbolic orbit: it is moving too fast for the Sun's gravity to hold on to it.
Rare comet 42 EP
C/2022 QE78 (ATLAS)
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 4 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Hyperbolic comet (one pass, then gone) +18
- Never comes near the Sun +10
- Has a proper name +8
- Comet +6
Total score 42
8 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Comet · +6
- Has a proper name · +8
- Hyperbolic comet (one pass, then gone) · +18
- Never comes near the Sun · +10
Trivia
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. On a hyperbolic orbit: it is moving too fast for the Sun's gravity to hold on to it.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 5.48 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Saturn.
- One-way trip. On a hyperbolic path — it will leave the Solar System and never return.
Standing on it
- Tail. Its tail always points away from the Sun, never trailing behind its motion — it is blown, not dragged.
By the numbers
- Made of. A comet is a dirty snowball: water ice, frozen carbon dioxide and dust, held together loosely enough that some simply crumble when the Sun warms them.
What's in a name
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- designation
- 2022 QE78
- eccentricity
- 1.0043
- full name
- C/2022 QE78 (ATLAS)
- inclination
- 36.58
- mean motion deg day
- 0
- moid au
- 4.49
- name
- C/2022 QE78 (ATLAS)
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- HYP
- perihelion au
- 5.477
- semi major au
- -1277
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, C/2022 QE78 (ATLAS) is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why C/2022 QE78 (ATLAS) is a rare comet
C/2022 QE78 (ATLAS) scores 42 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Comet, Has a proper name, Hyperbolic comet (one pass, then gone) and Never comes near the Sun — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.