Comet 126P/IRAS

Comet 126P/IRAS is currently in the constellation of Centaurus. The current Right Ascension of Comet 126P/IRAS is 12h 25m 03s and the Declination is -35° 43’ 10” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 126P/IRAS is 25.86 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 126P/IRAS [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]:

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Additional information about Comet 126P/IRAS available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 126P/IRAS?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 126P/IRAS from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 126P/IRAS rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 126P/IRAS?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 126P/IRAS orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 126P/IRAS with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 126P/IRAS for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 126P/IRAS in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 126P/IRAS with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 126P/IRAS is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 126P/IRAS?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 126P/IRAS in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 126P/IRAS Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 126P/IRAS from Earth is currently 798,621,568 kilometers, equivalent to 5.338455 Astronomical Units. Light takes 44 minutes and 23.9148 seconds to travel from Comet 126P/IRAS and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 126P/IRAS 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 126P/IRAS from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 126P/IRAS to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 126P/IRAS to Earth happens on Sun Sep 21 2036 at a distance of 0.789418 Astronomical Units, or 118,095,233 kilometers:

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

Comet 126P/IRAS brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 126P/IRAS is 25.86.

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 126P/IRAS, 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 126P/IRAS rise and set times

Today's Comet 126P/IRAS 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 126P/IRAS 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 126P/IRAS Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 126P/IRAS with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 126P/IRAS 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 126P/IRAS 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 126P/IRAS computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 126P/IRAS in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2021 Apr 30	12h 29m 26s	-36° 07’ 55”	25.90	Centaurus
2021 May 01	12h 28m 49s	-36° 04’ 41”	25.89	Centaurus
2021 May 02	12h 28m 10s	-36° 01’ 22”	25.89	Centaurus
2021 May 03	12h 27m 33s	-35° 57’ 59”	25.88	Centaurus
2021 May 04	12h 26m 57s	-35° 54’ 33”	25.88	Centaurus
2021 May 05	12h 26m 21s	-35° 51’ 02”	25.87	Centaurus
2021 May 06	12h 25m 45s	-35° 47’ 30”	25.87	Centaurus
2021 May 07	12h 25m 09s	-35° 43’ 54”	25.86	Centaurus
2021 May 08	12h 24m 36s	-35° 40’ 14”	25.86	Centaurus
2021 May 09	12h 24m 02s	-35° 36’ 33”	25.85	Centaurus
2021 May 10	12h 23m 29s	-35° 32’ 48”	25.85	Centaurus
2021 May 11	12h 22m 57s	-35° 29’ 02”	25.84	Centaurus
2021 May 12	12h 22m 24s	-35° 25’ 14”	25.84	Centaurus
2021 May 13	12h 21m 54s	-35° 21’ 23”	25.83	Centaurus