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Comet 201P/LONEOS

Below the horizon.  Rise: 4:56 | Tran: 8:13 | Set: 11:30
Alt: -16.25°   Az: 246.36°   Direction: West-South-West

Comet 201P/LONEOS is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, at a distance of 868,132,093.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 20m 32s and the Declination is -27° 18’ 24” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 201P/LONEOS is 27.90 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 201P/LONEOS in Ophiuchus on February, 06 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 201P/LONEOS in Ophiuchus on February, 06 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 201P/LONEOS is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

201P/LONEOS
RA: 17h 18m 58s
Dec: -27° 16’ 56”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 201P/LONEOS. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 201P/LONEOS?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 201P/LONEOS in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

17h 20m 32s
-27° 18’ 24”
05h 27m 08s
22h 47m 41s

J2000

17h 18m 58s
-27° 16’ 56”

Additional Information

Ophiuchus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
27.90

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 201P/LONEOS from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 117.3°
Max altitude: 11.2°
Azimuth: 242.7°
  • 201P/LONEOS is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 201P/LONEOS 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 201P/LONEOS from Earth is currently 868,132,093.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.8031046093 Astronomical Units. Light takes 48m 15.777s to travel from Comet 201P/LONEOS and arrive to us.

868,132,093.0
5.8031046093
48m 15.777s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 201P/LONEOS 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 201P/LONEOS 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 201P/LONEOS 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 201P/LONEOS to Earth happens on Tue Nov 26 2097 at a distance of 0.367929 Astronomical Units, or 55,041,372 kilometers:

Tue Nov 26 2097
55,041,372
0.367929

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 201P/LONEOS, 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 201P/LONEOS as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 201P/LONEOS at epoch 07 May 2012 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456055.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.61286098
Orbit inclination i 7.03651944°
Perihelion distance q 1.33998367 AU
200,458,704 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.58250985 AU
835,131,588 km
Semi-major axis a 3.46124676 AU
517,795,146 km
Orbital period period 6.4396 years
2,352.0539 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2015-Jan-14 08:01:42
2,457,036.8345 JD
Next perihelion transit 2021-Jun-23 09:19
2,459,388.8884 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 24.953960253678°
Longitude of the ascending node node 35.285667774203°
Mean anomaly M 209.79917906889°
Mean motion n 0.15305772°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 201P/LONEOS
View Comet 201P/LONEOS in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 201P/LONEOS 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 Jan 30 17h 15m 31s -27° 08’ 05” 27.95 Ophiuchus
2025 Jan 31 17h 16m 12s -27° 09’ 29” 27.95 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 01 17h 16m 54s -27° 10’ 51” 27.94 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 02 17h 17m 34s -27° 12’ 14” 27.93 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 03 17h 18m 14s -27° 13’ 35” 27.93 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 04 17h 18m 53s -27° 14’ 57” 27.92 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 05 17h 19m 32s -27° 16’ 18” 27.91 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 06 17h 20m 11s -27° 17’ 38” 27.90 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 07 17h 20m 49s -27° 18’ 58” 27.90 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 08 17h 21m 26s -27° 20’ 18” 27.89 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 09 17h 22m 04s -27° 21’ 37” 27.88 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 10 17h 22m 40s -27° 22’ 56” 27.87 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 11 17h 23m 16s -27° 24’ 15” 27.87 Ophiuchus
2025 Feb 12 17h 23m 52s -27° 25’ 32” 27.86 Ophiuchus

Additional Resources