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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 5:52  ☀️ Transit: 12:04  🌅 Sunset: 18:18

Comet 125P/Spacewatch

Comet 125P/Spacewatch is currently in the constellation of Gemini. The current Right Ascension of Comet 125P/Spacewatch is 06h 43m 33s and the Declination is +16° 51’ 16” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 125P/Spacewatch is 23.41 (JPL).

06h 43m 33s
+16° 51’ 16”
Gemini
23.41

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 125P/Spacewatch from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 73.2°
Max altitude: 55.4°
Azimuth: 286.8°
  • 125P/Spacewatch is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Right now it is placed in the East-South-East direction at an altitude of 33° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 125P/Spacewatch 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 125P/Spacewatch Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 125P/Spacewatch 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 125P/Spacewatch in Gemini on March, 25 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 125P/Spacewatch in Gemini on March, 25 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 125P/Spacewatch is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

125P/Spacewatch
RA: 06h 43m 33s
Dec: +16° 51’ 16”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 125P/Spacewatch
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 125P/Spacewatch?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 125P/Spacewatch in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 125P/Spacewatch Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 125P/Spacewatch from Earth is currently 433,688,492 kilometers, equivalent to 2.899029 Astronomical Units. Light takes 24 minutes and 6.6291 seconds to travel from Comet 125P/Spacewatch and arrive to us.

433,688,492
2.899029
24 minutes and 6.6291 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 125P/Spacewatch 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 125P/Spacewatch 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 125P/Spacewatch from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 125P/Spacewatch to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 125P/Spacewatch to Earth happens on Tue Jun 5 2046 at a distance of 0.603973 Astronomical Units, or 90,353,137 kilometers:

Tue Jun 5 2046
90,353,137
0.603973

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

Comet 125P/Spacewatch Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 125P/Spacewatch is 23.41.

23.41
-
-

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 125P/Spacewatch, 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 125P/Spacewatch as a function of time

Comet 125P/Spacewatch Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 125P/Spacewatch at epoch 10 August 2010 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455419.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.51204018
Orbit inclination i 9.98645795°
Perihelion distance q 1.52521199 AU
228,168,467 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.72617160 AU
707,025,209 km
Semi-major axis a 3.12569180 AU
467,596,838 km
Orbital period period 5.5262 years
2,018.4484 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2013-Feb-17 09:11:49
2,456,340.8832 JD
Next perihelion transit 2018-Aug-28 19:57
2,458,359.3316 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 87.293598440358°
Longitude of the ascending node node 153.1877488062°
Mean anomaly M 195.66686432852°
Mean motion n 0.17835482°/day

Visualization of Comet 125P/Spacewatch Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 125P/Spacewatch with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 125P/Spacewatch 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 125P/Spacewatch
View Comet 125P/Spacewatch in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 125P/Spacewatch 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 125P/Spacewatch computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 125P/Spacewatch in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 18 06h 41m 27s +16° 28’ 18” 23.45 Gemini
2023 Mar 19 06h 41m 39s +16° 31’ 27” 23.44 Gemini
2023 Mar 20 06h 41m 53s +16° 34’ 35” 23.44 Gemini
2023 Mar 21 06h 42m 07s +16° 37’ 40” 23.43 Gemini
2023 Mar 22 06h 42m 24s +16° 40’ 41” 23.43 Gemini
2023 Mar 23 06h 42m 42s +16° 43’ 41” 23.43 Gemini
2023 Mar 24 06h 43m 00s +16° 46’ 37” 23.42 Gemini
2023 Mar 25 06h 43m 21s +16° 49’ 32” 23.42 Gemini
2023 Mar 26 06h 43m 41s +16° 52’ 24” 23.41 Gemini
2023 Mar 27 06h 44m 04s +16° 55’ 14” 23.41 Gemini
2023 Mar 28 06h 44m 27s +16° 58’ 00” 23.41 Gemini
2023 Mar 29 06h 44m 53s +17° 00’ 43” 23.40 Gemini
2023 Mar 30 06h 45m 20s +17° 03’ 24” 23.40 Gemini
2023 Mar 31 06h 45m 47s +17° 06’ 03” 23.39 Gemini