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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:01  ☀️ Transit: 12:06  🌅 Sunset: 18:11

Comet 106P/Schuster

Comet 106P/Schuster is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 106P/Schuster is 12h 53m 44s and the Declination is +13° 14’ 45” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 106P/Schuster is 28.74 (JPL).

12h 53m 44s
+13° 14’ 45”
Virgo
28.74

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 106P/Schuster from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 76.7°
Max altitude: 51.8°
Azimuth: 283.3°
  • 106P/Schuster is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Right now it is placed in the West-South-West direction at an altitude of 27° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 106P/Schuster is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Available Resources

Comet 106P/Schuster Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 106P/Schuster finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.

Map showing Comet 106P/Schuster in Virgo on March, 21 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 106P/Schuster in Virgo on March, 21 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
 = visible to the naked eye
 = binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 106P/Schuster is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

106P/Schuster
RA: 12h 53m 44s
Dec: +13° 14’ 45”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 106P/Schuster
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 106P/Schuster?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 106P/Schuster in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 106P/Schuster Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 106P/Schuster from Earth is currently 535,506,349 kilometers, equivalent to 3.579639 Astronomical Units. Light takes 29 minutes and 46.2569 seconds to travel from Comet 106P/Schuster and arrive to us.

535,506,349
3.579639
29 minutes and 46.2569 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 106P/Schuster from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Comet 106P/Schuster from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 106P/Schuster from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 106P/Schuster to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 106P/Schuster to Earth happens on Mon Nov 7 2050 at a distance of 0.530747 Astronomical Units, or 79,398,637 kilometers:

Mon Nov 7 2050
79,398,637
0.530747

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet 106P/Schuster Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 106P/Schuster is 28.74.

28.74
-
-

The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 106P/Schuster, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 106P/Schuster as a function of time

Comet 106P/Schuster Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 106P/Schuster at epoch 19 April 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457498.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.58953218
Orbit inclination i 20.19768533°
Perihelion distance q 1.54069625 AU
230,484,879 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.96632942 AU
892,550,180 km
Semi-major axis a 3.75351284 AU
561,517,529 km
Orbital period period 7.2722 years
2,656.1664 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2014-Jul-20 11:06:32
2,456,858.9629 JD
Next perihelion transit 2021-Oct-27 15:06
2,459,515.1293 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 355.9826443985°
Longitude of the ascending node node 50.322397394734°
Mean anomaly M 86.678817686577°
Mean motion n 0.13553368°/day

Visualization of Comet 106P/Schuster Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 106P/Schuster with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 106P/Schuster and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!

Orbit Diagram of Comet 106P/Schuster
View Comet 106P/Schuster in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 106P/Schuster 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 106P/Schuster computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 106P/Schuster in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 14 12h 58m 48s +12° 47’ 17” 28.67 Virgo
2023 Mar 15 12h 58m 06s +12° 51’ 18” 28.68 Virgo
2023 Mar 16 12h 57m 25s +12° 55’ 14” 28.69 Virgo
2023 Mar 17 12h 56m 44s +12° 59’ 07” 28.70 Virgo
2023 Mar 18 12h 56m 02s +13° 02’ 56” 28.71 Virgo
2023 Mar 19 12h 55m 19s +13° 06’ 41” 28.72 Virgo
2023 Mar 20 12h 54m 37s +13° 10’ 23” 28.73 Virgo
2023 Mar 21 12h 53m 53s +13° 13’ 59” 28.74 Virgo
2023 Mar 22 12h 53m 11s +13° 17’ 33” 28.75 Virgo
2023 Mar 23 12h 52m 27s +13° 21’ 01” 28.76 Coma
2023 Mar 24 12h 51m 43s +13° 24’ 24” 28.77 Coma
2023 Mar 25 12h 51m 01s +13° 27’ 42” 28.78 Coma
2023 Mar 26 12h 50m 17s +13° 30’ 55” 28.79 Coma
2023 Mar 27 12h 49m 32s +13° 34’ 03” 28.80 Coma