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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:50  ☀️ Transit: 13:04  🌅 Sunset: 19:19

Comet 164P/Christensen

Comet 164P/Christensen is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius. The current Right Ascension of Comet 164P/Christensen is 18h 08m 01s and the Declination is -21° 04’ 55” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 164P/Christensen is 20.90 (JPL).

18h 08m 01s
-21° 04’ 55”
Sagittarius
20.90

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 164P/Christensen from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 111.1°
Max altitude: 17.4°
Azimuth: 248.9°
  • 164P/Christensen is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Right now it is placed in the South-East direction at an altitude of 10° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 164P/Christensen 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 164P/Christensen Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 164P/Christensen 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 164P/Christensen in Sagittarius on March, 26 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 164P/Christensen in Sagittarius on March, 26 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 164P/Christensen is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

164P/Christensen
RA: 18h 08m 01s
Dec: -21° 04’ 55”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 164P/Christensen
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 164P/Christensen?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 164P/Christensen in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 164P/Christensen Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 164P/Christensen from Earth is currently 729,973,894 kilometers, equivalent to 4.879574 Astronomical Units. Light takes 40 minutes and 34.9308 seconds to travel from Comet 164P/Christensen and arrive to us.

729,973,894
4.879574
40 minutes and 34.9308 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 164P/Christensen 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 164P/Christensen 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 164P/Christensen from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 164P/Christensen to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 164P/Christensen to Earth happens on Tue Dec 4 2074 at a distance of 0.812188 Astronomical Units, or 121,501,628 kilometers:

Tue Dec 4 2074
121,501,628
0.812188

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

Comet 164P/Christensen Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 164P/Christensen is 20.90.

20.90
-
-

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 164P/Christensen, 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 164P/Christensen as a function of time

Comet 164P/Christensen Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 164P/Christensen at epoch 10 December 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457002.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.54028603
Orbit inclination i 16.26201829°
Perihelion distance q 1.68145002 AU
251,541,342 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.63375092 AU
842,797,143 km
Semi-major axis a 3.65760047 AU
547,169,243 km
Orbital period period 6.9952 years
2,555.0113 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2018-May-30 21:53:37
2,458,269.4122 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-May-28 22:09
2,460,824.4235 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 326.00391345373°
Longitude of the ascending node node 88.30743483611°
Mean anomaly M 181.49260663498°
Mean motion n 0.14089957°/day

Visualization of Comet 164P/Christensen Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 164P/Christensen with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 164P/Christensen 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 164P/Christensen
View Comet 164P/Christensen in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 164P/Christensen 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 164P/Christensen computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 164P/Christensen in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 19 18h 05m 53s -21° 01’ 01” 20.97 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 20 18h 06m 12s -21° 01’ 33” 20.96 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 21 18h 06m 33s -21° 02’ 06” 20.95 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 22 18h 06m 51s -21° 02’ 38” 20.94 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 23 18h 07m 09s -21° 03’ 10” 20.93 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 24 18h 07m 27s -21° 03’ 42” 20.92 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 25 18h 07m 42s -21° 04’ 15” 20.91 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 26 18h 07m 59s -21° 04’ 49” 20.90 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 27 18h 08m 13s -21° 05’ 22” 20.89 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 28 18h 08m 27s -21° 05’ 57” 20.88 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 29 18h 08m 41s -21° 06’ 30” 20.87 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 30 18h 08m 53s -21° 07’ 05” 20.86 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 31 18h 09m 06s -21° 07’ 41” 20.85 Sagittarius
2023 Apr 01 18h 09m 16s -21° 08’ 17” 20.85 Sagittarius