Comet 141P/Machholz 2

Comet 141P/Machholz 2 is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 141P/Machholz 2 is 14h 14m 39s and the Declination is -22° 14’ 48” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 141P/Machholz 2 is 26.79 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 141P/Machholz 2 [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 141P/Machholz 2 available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 141P/Machholz 2?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 141P/Machholz 2 from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 141P/Machholz 2 rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 141P/Machholz 2?)
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 141P/Machholz 2 for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 141P/Machholz 2 in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 141P/Machholz 2 with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 141P/Machholz 2 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 141P/Machholz 2?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 141P/Machholz 2 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 141P/Machholz 2 Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 141P/Machholz 2 from Earth is currently 740,967,410 kilometers, equivalent to 4.953061 Astronomical Units. Light takes 41 minutes and 11.6012 seconds to travel from Comet 141P/Machholz 2 and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 141P/Machholz 2 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 141P/Machholz 2 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 141P/Machholz 2 to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 141P/Machholz 2 to Earth happens on Mon Dec 17 2057 at a distance of 0.125073 Astronomical Units, or 18,710,613 kilometers:

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

Comet 141P/Machholz 2 brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 141P/Machholz 2 is 26.79.

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 141P/Machholz 2, 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 141P/Machholz 2 rise and set times

Today's Comet 141P/Machholz 2 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 141P/Machholz 2 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 141P/Machholz 2 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 141P/Machholz 2 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 141P/Machholz 2 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 Jan 29	14h 13m 59s	-22° 02’ 56”	26.83	Virgo
2023 Jan 30	14h 14m 07s	-22° 04’ 44”	26.82	Virgo
2023 Jan 31	14h 14m 13s	-22° 06’ 29”	26.82	Virgo
2023 Feb 01	14h 14m 21s	-22° 08’ 09”	26.81	Virgo
2023 Feb 02	14h 14m 26s	-22° 09’ 47”	26.80	Virgo
2023 Feb 03	14h 14m 31s	-22° 11’ 21”	26.80	Virgo
2023 Feb 04	14h 14m 35s	-22° 12’ 51”	26.79	Virgo
2023 Feb 05	14h 14m 39s	-22° 14’ 17”	26.79	Virgo
2023 Feb 06	14h 14m 41s	-22° 15’ 39”	26.78	Virgo
2023 Feb 07	14h 14m 43s	-22° 16’ 58”	26.77	Virgo
2023 Feb 08	14h 14m 44s	-22° 18’ 11”	26.77	Virgo
2023 Feb 09	14h 14m 44s	-22° 19’ 23”	26.76	Virgo
2023 Feb 10	14h 14m 43s	-22° 20’ 29”	26.76	Virgo
2023 Feb 11	14h 14m 41s	-22° 21’ 32”	26.75	Virgo