Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR Position
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Aquarius. The current Right Ascension is 21h 14m 16s and the Declination is -04° 18’ 51”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR is right now (view fullscreen)
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
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Also check out Where is Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR Distance
The distance of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR from Earth is currently 442,833,005 kilometers, equivalent to 2.960156 Astronomical Units. Light takes 24 minutes and 37.1319 seconds to travel from Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR 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 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR to Earth happens on Thu Nov 12 2026 at a distance of 0.40123908 Astronomical Units, or 60,024,512 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR is 23.77.
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 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR, 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 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR 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 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR 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.
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR at epoch 01 March 2008 00:00 UTC (JD: 2454527.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.54491240 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 13.55352223° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.55357868 AU 232,412,063 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.27402413 AU 788,982,782 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.41380141 AU 510,697,422 km |
| Orbital period | period |
6.3100 years 2,303.8585 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2008-May-04 15:46:52 2,454,591.1575 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2014-Aug-25 12:23 2,456,895.0161 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 163.89955607774° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 240.52473611351° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 350.05289720324° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.15625959°/day |
Visualization of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR 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!
View Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Apr 01 | 21h 02m 56s | -05° 40’ 24” | 23.98 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 21h 04m 23s | -05° 30’ 23” | 23.96 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 21h 05m 48s | -05° 20’ 16” | 23.93 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 21h 07m 14s | -05° 10’ 05” | 23.91 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 05 | 21h 08m 40s | -04° 59’ 48” | 23.88 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 06 | 21h 10m 06s | -04° 49’ 27” | 23.85 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 07 | 21h 11m 32s | -04° 39’ 02” | 23.83 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 08 | 21h 12m 59s | -04° 28’ 31” | 23.80 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 09 | 21h 14m 23s | -04° 17’ 56” | 23.77 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 10 | 21h 15m 50s | -04° 07’ 15” | 23.75 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 11 | 21h 17m 15s | -03° 56’ 30” | 23.72 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 12 | 21h 18m 39s | -03° 45’ 42” | 23.69 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 13 | 21h 20m 04s | -03° 34’ 46” | 23.67 | Aquarius |
| 2020 Apr 14 | 21h 21m 29s | -03° 23’ 48” | 23.64 | Aquarius |