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Comets » 

Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 9:20 | Tran: 16:12 | Set: 23:04
Alt: 48.40°   Az: 192.18°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 280,894,051.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 44m 16s and the Declination is +10° 25’ 32” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) is 17.43 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) in Pisces on February, 12 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) in Pisces on February, 12 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost)
RA: 01h 42m 56s
Dec: +10° 17’ 59”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 44m 16s
+10° 25’ 32”
00h 32m 44s
02h 17m 01s

J2000

01h 42m 56s
+10° 17’ 59”

Additional Information

Pisces
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
17.43

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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 79.6°
Max altitude: 48.9°
Azimuth: 280.5°
  • 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-West direction at an altitude of 48.40° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) 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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) from Earth is currently 280,894,051.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.8776607560 Astronomical Units. Light takes 15m 36.962s to travel from Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) and arrive to us.

280,894,051.0
1.8776607560
15m 36.962s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) 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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) 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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) 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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) to Earth happens on Sun Nov 28 2032 at a distance of 0.784610 Astronomical Units, or 117,375,995 kilometers:

Sun Nov 28 2032
117,375,995
0.784610

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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost), 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 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) 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 6.7158 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

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost)
View Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 18D/Perrine-Mrkos (Lost) 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 05 01h 22m 47s +09° 35’ 33” 17.25 Pisces
2025 Feb 06 01h 25m 34s +09° 42’ 03” 17.27 Pisces
2025 Feb 07 01h 28m 22s +09° 48’ 32” 17.30 Pisces
2025 Feb 08 01h 31m 09s +09° 55’ 03” 17.32 Pisces
2025 Feb 09 01h 33m 57s +10° 01’ 34” 17.34 Pisces
2025 Feb 10 01h 36m 44s +10° 08’ 03” 17.37 Pisces
2025 Feb 11 01h 39m 31s +10° 14’ 33” 17.39 Pisces
2025 Feb 12 01h 42m 19s +10° 21’ 01” 17.41 Pisces
2025 Feb 13 01h 45m 06s +10° 27’ 28” 17.44 Pisces
2025 Feb 14 01h 47m 54s +10° 33’ 56” 17.46 Pisces
2025 Feb 15 01h 50m 41s +10° 40’ 21” 17.49 Aries
2025 Feb 16 01h 53m 27s +10° 46’ 45” 17.51 Aries
2025 Feb 17 01h 56m 14s +10° 53’ 08” 17.54 Aries
2025 Feb 18 01h 59m 00s +10° 59’ 29” 17.56 Aries

Additional Resources