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Comets » 

Comet 22P/Kopff

Below the horizon.  Rise: 12:35 | Tran: 20:30 | Set: 4:30
Alt: -9.10°   Az: 37.46°   Direction: North-East

Comet 22P/Kopff is in the constellation of Orion, at a distance of 694,168,367.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 05h 59m 33s and the Declination is +21° 22’ 16” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 22P/Kopff is 22.29 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 22P/Kopff in Orion on February, 11 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 22P/Kopff in Orion on February, 11 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 22P/Kopff is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

22P/Kopff
RA: 05h 58m 02s
Dec: +21° 22’ 13”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 22P/Kopff. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 22P/Kopff?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 22P/Kopff in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

05h 59m 33s
+21° 22’ 16”
14h 40m 39s
20h 40m 12s

J2000

05h 58m 02s
+21° 22’ 13”

Additional Information

Orion
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.29

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 22P/Kopff from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 68.6°
Max altitude: 59.9°
Azimuth: 291.4°
  • 22P/Kopff is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 22P/Kopff 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 22P/Kopff from Earth is currently 694,168,367.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.6402289267 Astronomical Units. Light takes 38m 35.496s to travel from Comet 22P/Kopff and arrive to us.

694,168,367.0
4.6402289267
38m 35.496s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 22P/Kopff 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 22P/Kopff 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 22P/Kopff 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 22P/Kopff to Earth happens on Mon Jul 25 2095 at a distance of 0.224579 Astronomical Units, or 33,596,540 kilometers:

Mon Jul 25 2095
33,596,540
0.224579

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 22P/Kopff, 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 22P/Kopff as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 22P/Kopff at epoch 25 February 2019 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458540.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.54861713
Orbit inclination i 4.73986877°
Perihelion distance q 1.55475742 AU
232,588,400 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.33410578 AU
797,970,868 km
Semi-major axis a 3.44443160 AU
515,279,634 km
Orbital period period 6.3927 years
2,334.9349 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Mar-17 21:20:56
2,459,656.3895 JD
Next perihelion transit 2028-Aug-07 19:47
2,461,991.3244 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 162.91261517187°
Longitude of the ascending node node 120.83554854268°
Mean anomaly M 187.95227518762°
Mean motion n 0.15417989°/day

Orbit Visualization

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 22P/Kopff 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 04 06h 02m 10s +21° 17’ 30” 22.24 Orion
2025 Feb 05 06h 01m 46s +21° 18’ 09” 22.25 Orion
2025 Feb 06 06h 01m 23s +21° 18’ 47” 22.25 Orion
2025 Feb 07 06h 01m 01s +21° 19’ 25” 22.26 Orion
2025 Feb 08 06h 00m 40s +21° 20’ 04” 22.27 Orion
2025 Feb 09 06h 00m 20s +21° 20’ 42” 22.27 Orion
2025 Feb 10 06h 00m 00s +21° 21’ 19” 22.28 Orion
2025 Feb 11 05h 59m 41s +21° 21’ 58” 22.29 Orion
2025 Feb 12 05h 59m 24s +21° 22’ 36” 22.29 Orion
2025 Feb 13 05h 59m 07s +21° 23’ 14” 22.30 Orion
2025 Feb 14 05h 58m 51s +21° 23’ 52” 22.31 Orion
2025 Feb 15 05h 58m 36s +21° 24’ 30” 22.31 Orion
2025 Feb 16 05h 58m 21s +21° 25’ 07” 22.32 Orion
2025 Feb 17 05h 58m 08s +21° 25’ 46” 22.33 Orion

Additional Resources