Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle

Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle is currently in the constellation of Hydra. The current Right Ascension of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle is 09h 45m 56s and the Declination is -20° 37’ 20” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle is 36.45 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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.

Additional information about Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle from Earth is currently 5,969,735,225 kilometers, equivalent to 39.905215 Astronomical Units. Light takes 5 hours, 31 minutes and 52.8933 seconds to travel from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle 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.

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 109P/Swift-Tuttle from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle to Earth happens on Sun Feb 17 2013 at a distance of 32.765243 Astronomical Units, or 4,901,610,600 kilometers:

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

Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle is 36.45.

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 109P/Swift-Tuttle, 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.

Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle rise and set times

Today's Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.

Visualization of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle 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!

Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2020 Oct 20	09h 45m 38s	-20° 30’ 37”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 21	09h 45m 42s	-20° 31’ 29”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 22	09h 45m 43s	-20° 32’ 21”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 23	09h 45m 47s	-20° 33’ 15”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 24	09h 45m 48s	-20° 34’ 06”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 25	09h 45m 51s	-20° 34’ 59”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 26	09h 45m 52s	-20° 35’ 52”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 27	09h 45m 55s	-20° 36’ 45”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 28	09h 45m 56s	-20° 37’ 36”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 29	09h 45m 59s	-20° 38’ 29”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 30	09h 46m 00s	-20° 39’ 20”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Oct 31	09h 46m 03s	-20° 40’ 13”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Nov 01	09h 46m 04s	-20° 41’ 04”	36.45	Hydra
2020 Nov 02	09h 46m 05s	-20° 41’ 57”	36.45	Hydra