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public  Dahu, China Dahu, China  ⓘ
TimezoneAsia/Shanghai
Sunrise: 5:17 
Transit: 12:08 
Sunset: 18:59
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Comets » 

Comet 125P/Spacewatch

Below the horizon.  Rise: 1:15 | Tran: 7:26 | Set: 13:40
Alt: -27.75°   Az: 66.26°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet 125P/Spacewatch is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 598,330,965.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 02h 15m 43s and the Declination is +06° 27’ 31” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 125P/Spacewatch, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 25.11).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 125P/Spacewatch in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 125P/Spacewatch in the constellation of Cetus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 125P/Spacewatch in the constellation of Cetus on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 125P/Spacewatch against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

125P/Spacewatch
RA: 02h 14m 22s
Dec: +06° 20’ 26”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 125P/Spacewatch. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

02h 15m 43s
+06° 27’ 31”
15h 38m 26s
17h 54m 09s

J2000

02h 14m 22s
+06° 20’ 26”

Additional Information

Cetus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.11

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted 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.

Rise and Set Times

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 125P/Spacewatch from Dahu, China (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Shanghai):

Azimuth: 83.5°
Max altitude: 70.1°
Azimuth: 276.5°

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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of comet 125P/Spacewatch from Earth is currently 598,330,965.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.9995954635 Astronomical Units. Light takes 33m 15.817s to travel from comet 125P/Spacewatch and arrive to us.

598,330,965.0
3.9995954635
33m 15.817s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 125P/Spacewatch from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 125P/Spacewatch from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 125P/Spacewatch from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 125P/Spacewatch to Earth will happen on Tuesday 5 June 2046 at a distance of 0.603963 Astronomical Units, or 90,351,522 kilometers:

Tuesday 5 June 2046
90,351,522
0.603963

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 125P/Spacewatch, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet 125P/Spacewatch as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 125P/Spacewatch at epoch August, 10 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457245.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.51269168
Orbit inclination i 9.98803083°
Perihelion distance q 1.52318697 AU
227,865,528 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.72824316 AU
707,335,110 km
Semi-major axis a 3.12571506 AU
467,600,319 km
Orbital period period 5.5263 years
2,018.4710 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp February 17, 2013
2,456,340.5858 JD
Next perihelion transit August 28, 2018
2,458,359.0568 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 87.145345387849°
Longitude of the ascending node node 153.19518929323°
Mean anomaly M 161.39399741041°
Mean motion n 0.17835283°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 125P/Spacewatch relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
Jun 27 2025 02h 10m 10s +06° 15’ 10” 25.10 Cetus
Jun 28 2025 02h 10m 55s +06° 17’ 03” 25.10 Cetus
Jun 29 2025 02h 11m 40s +06° 18’ 51” 25.10 Cetus
Jun 30 2025 02h 12m 25s +06° 20’ 34” 25.11 Cetus
Jul 01 2025 02h 13m 09s +06° 22’ 14” 25.11 Cetus
Jul 02 2025 02h 13m 52s +06° 23’ 48” 25.11 Cetus
Jul 03 2025 02h 14m 35s +06° 25’ 17” 25.11 Cetus
Jul 04 2025 02h 15m 17s +06° 26’ 41” 25.11 Cetus
Jul 05 2025 02h 15m 58s +06° 28’ 00” 25.11 Cetus
Jul 06 2025 02h 16m 39s +06° 29’ 15” 25.12 Cetus
Jul 07 2025 02h 17m 19s +06° 30’ 24” 25.12 Cetus
Jul 08 2025 02h 17m 59s +06° 31’ 30” 25.12 Cetus
Jul 09 2025 02h 18m 38s +06° 32’ 30” 25.12 Cetus
Jul 10 2025 02h 19m 16s +06° 33’ 24” 25.12 Cetus

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