Comet 126P/IRAS

Comet 126P/IRAS is currently in the constellation of Telescopium. The current Right Ascension of Comet 126P/IRAS is 20h 25m 03s and the Declination is -52° 05’ 04” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 126P/IRAS is 17.70 (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 469,657,616 kilometers, equivalent to 3.139467 Astronomical Units. Light takes 26 minutes and 6.6092 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 0.789425 Astronomical Units, or 118,096,354 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 17.70.

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

Comet 126P/IRAS is currently not visible from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

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
2023 Jan 20	20h 00m 27s	-53° 32’ 05”	17.89	Telescopium
2023 Jan 21	20h 03m 47s	-53° 21’ 12”	17.86	Telescopium
2023 Jan 22	20h 07m 05s	-53° 10’ 05”	17.84	Telescopium
2023 Jan 23	20h 10m 23s	-52° 58’ 45”	17.81	Telescopium
2023 Jan 24	20h 13m 41s	-52° 47’ 12”	17.79	Telescopium
2023 Jan 25	20h 16m 58s	-52° 35’ 24”	17.76	Telescopium
2023 Jan 26	20h 20m 12s	-52° 23’ 22”	17.73	Telescopium
2023 Jan 27	20h 23m 27s	-52° 11’ 09”	17.71	Telescopium
2023 Jan 28	20h 26m 42s	-51° 58’ 41”	17.68	Telescopium
2023 Jan 29	20h 29m 53s	-51° 46’ 01”	17.66	Indus
2023 Jan 30	20h 33m 06s	-51° 33’ 09”	17.63	Indus
2023 Jan 31	20h 36m 15s	-51° 20’ 03”	17.60	Indus
2023 Feb 01	20h 39m 25s	-51° 06’ 43”	17.58	Indus
2023 Feb 02	20h 42m 34s	-50° 53’ 12”	17.55	Indus