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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:56 
Transit: 13:05 
Sunset: 21:13
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Comet 164P/Christensen

Above the horizon.  Rise: 3:47 | Tran: 11:45 | Set: 19:43
Alt: 13.69°   Az: 72.31°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet 164P/Christensen is in the constellation of Orion, at a distance of 398,312,427.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 05h 59m 17s and the Declination is +21° 39’ 03” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 164P/Christensen, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 17.60.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 164P/Christensen in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 164P/Christensen in the constellation of Orion on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 164P/Christensen in the constellation of Orion 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 164P/Christensen 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.

164P/Christensen
RA: 05h 57m 45s
Dec: +21° 38’ 59”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 164P/Christensen. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

05h 59m 17s
+21° 39’ 03”
17h 39m 21s
23h 38m 39s

J2000

05h 57m 45s
+21° 38’ 59”

Additional Information

Orion
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
17.60

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 164P/Christensen from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 68.4°
Max altitude: 60.2°
Azimuth: 291.7°

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 164P/Christensen from Earth is currently 398,312,427.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.6625541202 Astronomical Units. Light takes 22m 8.627s to travel from comet 164P/Christensen and arrive to us.

398,312,427.0
2.6625541202
22m 8.627s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 164P/Christensen 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 164P/Christensen 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 164P/Christensen 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 164P/Christensen to Earth will happen on Tuesday 4 December 2074 at a distance of 0.811321 Astronomical Units, or 121,371,894 kilometers:

Tuesday 4 December 2074
121,371,894
0.811321

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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 164P/Christensen at epoch January, 18 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457041.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.54023784
Orbit inclination i 16.26193102°
Perihelion distance q 1.68167790 AU
251,575,434 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.63374755 AU
842,796,639 km
Semi-major axis a 3.65771272 AU
547,186,036 km
Orbital period period 6.9956 years
2,555.1289 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp May 30, 2018
2,458,269.4908 JD
Next perihelion transit May 29, 2025
2,460,824.6197 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 326.00467436211°
Longitude of the ascending node node 88.307602492412°
Mean anomaly M 186.98458769035°
Mean motion n 0.14089309°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 164P/Christensen 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 164P/Christensen 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
Jul 03 2025 05h 38m 50s +20° 53’ 53” 17.58 Taurus
Jul 04 2025 05h 41m 41s +21° 00’ 46” 17.58 Taurus
Jul 05 2025 05h 44m 32s +21° 07’ 27” 17.58 Taurus
Jul 06 2025 05h 47m 23s +21° 13’ 57” 17.59 Taurus
Jul 07 2025 05h 50m 13s +21° 20’ 15” 17.59 Taurus
Jul 08 2025 05h 53m 05s +21° 26’ 21” 17.59 Orion
Jul 09 2025 05h 55m 56s +21° 32’ 17” 17.59 Orion
Jul 10 2025 05h 58m 46s +21° 38’ 01” 17.60 Orion
Jul 11 2025 06h 01m 36s +21° 43’ 33” 17.60 Orion
Jul 12 2025 06h 04m 27s +21° 48’ 55” 17.60 Gemini
Jul 13 2025 06h 07m 16s +21° 54’ 05” 17.60 Gemini
Jul 14 2025 06h 10m 06s +21° 59’ 03” 17.61 Gemini
Jul 15 2025 06h 12m 56s +22° 03’ 51” 17.61 Gemini
Jul 16 2025 06h 15m 45s +22° 08’ 28” 17.61 Gemini

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