Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos
Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos Position
Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension is 13h 34m 07s and the Declination is -21° 55’ 33”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos Distance
The distance of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos from Earth is currently 810,351,810 kilometers, equivalent to 5.416867 Astronomical Units. Light takes 45 minutes and 3.0427 seconds to travel from Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos 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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos to Earth happens on Sun Nov 28 2032 at a distance of 0.78463206 Astronomical Units, or 117,379,285 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos is 30.72.
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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos, 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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos 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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos 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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos at epoch 01 January 1970 00:00 UTC (JD: 2440240.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.64258098 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 17.75898277° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.27224808 AU 190,325,604 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.84683635 AU 874,674,270 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.55954221 AU 532,499,937 km |
| Orbital period | period |
6.7200 years 2,452.9554 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 1968-Nov-01 13:00:40 2,440,162.0421 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 1975-Jul-21 11:56 2,442,614.9975 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 166.05041712495° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 240.87554663092° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 11.514613023145° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.14676174°/day |
Visualization of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos 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!
View Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Feb 14 | 13h 35m 35s | -21° 54’ 36” | 30.75 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 15 | 13h 35m 26s | -21° 54’ 59” | 30.74 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 16 | 13h 35m 16s | -21° 55’ 18” | 30.74 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 17 | 13h 35m 04s | -21° 55’ 32” | 30.74 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 18 | 13h 34m 54s | -21° 55’ 41” | 30.73 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 19 | 13h 34m 41s | -21° 55’ 45” | 30.73 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 20 | 13h 34m 28s | -21° 55’ 45” | 30.73 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 21 | 13h 34m 15s | -21° 55’ 38” | 30.73 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 22 | 13h 34m 01s | -21° 55’ 28” | 30.72 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 23 | 13h 33m 47s | -21° 55’ 14” | 30.72 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 24 | 13h 33m 32s | -21° 54’ 55” | 30.72 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 25 | 13h 33m 15s | -21° 54’ 29” | 30.71 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 26 | 13h 32m 58s | -21° 53’ 59” | 30.71 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 27 | 13h 32m 41s | -21° 53’ 26” | 30.71 | Virgo |