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Comet 164P/Christensen

Above the horizon.  Rise: 9:02 | Tran: 13:54 | Set: 18:46
Alt: 22.65°   Az: 155.74°   Direction: South-South-East

Comet 164P/Christensen is in the constellation of Aquarius, at a distance of 414,061,611.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 23h 53m 08s and the Declination is -12° 52’ 12” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 164P/Christensen is 17.88 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 164P/Christensen in Aquarius on February, 19 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 164P/Christensen in Aquarius on February, 19 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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: 23h 51m 50s
Dec: -13° 00’ 35”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 164P/Christensen. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

23h 53m 08s
-12° 52’ 12”
22h 28m 25s
22h 21m 34s

J2000

23h 51m 50s
-13° 00’ 35”

Additional Information

Aquarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
17.88

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

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

Azimuth: 102.9°
Max altitude: 25.7°
Azimuth: 257.2°
  • 164P/Christensen is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-East direction at an altitude of 22.65° 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 164P/Christensen from Earth is currently 414,061,611.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.7678309127 Astronomical Units. Light takes 23m 1.161s to travel from Comet 164P/Christensen and arrive to us.

414,061,611.0
2.7678309127
23m 1.161s

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

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 164P/Christensen to Earth happens on Tue Dec 4 2074 at a distance of 0.811321 Astronomical Units, or 121,371,894 kilometers:

Tue Dec 4 2074
121,371,894
0.811321

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

Light Curve

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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 164P/Christensen at epoch 18 January 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 2018-May-30 23:46:43
2,458,269.4908 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-May-29 02:52
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

Orbit Diagram of Comet 164P/Christensen
View Comet 164P/Christensen in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 Feb 12 23h 36m 34s -14° 54’ 30” 17.92 Aquarius
2025 Feb 13 23h 38m 46s -14° 38’ 30” 17.91 Aquarius
2025 Feb 14 23h 40m 57s -14° 22’ 23” 17.91 Aquarius
2025 Feb 15 23h 43m 08s -14° 06’ 13” 17.90 Aquarius
2025 Feb 16 23h 45m 20s -13° 49’ 58” 17.90 Aquarius
2025 Feb 17 23h 47m 33s -13° 33’ 37” 17.89 Aquarius
2025 Feb 18 23h 49m 45s -13° 17’ 13” 17.89 Aquarius
2025 Feb 19 23h 51m 59s -13° 00’ 44” 17.88 Aquarius
2025 Feb 20 23h 54m 12s -12° 44’ 10” 17.88 Aquarius
2025 Feb 21 23h 56m 26s -12° 27’ 32” 17.87 Aquarius
2025 Feb 22 23h 58m 40s -12° 10’ 49” 17.87 Cetus
2025 Feb 23 00h 00m 54s -11° 54’ 03” 17.86 Cetus
2025 Feb 24 00h 03m 09s -11° 37’ 12” 17.86 Cetus
2025 Feb 25 00h 05m 24s -11° 20’ 17” 17.85 Cetus

Additional Resources