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Comet 240P/NEAT

Below the horizon.  Rise: 5:16 | Tran: 10:20 | Set: 15:26
Alt: -15.80°   Az: 87.06°   Direction: East

Comet 240P/NEAT is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 476,716,529.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 33m 18s and the Declination is -10° 30’ 19” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 240P/NEAT is 16.98 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 240P/NEAT in Cetus on May, 25 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 240P/NEAT in Cetus on May, 25 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 240P/NEAT is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

240P/NEAT
RA: 01h 32m 02s
Dec: -10° 38’ 07”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 240P/NEAT. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 240P/NEAT?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 240P/NEAT in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 33m 18s
-10° 30’ 19”
17h 11m 06s
18h 44m 24s

J2000

01h 32m 02s
-10° 38’ 07”

Additional Information

Cetus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
16.98

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 240P/NEAT from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 100.5°
Max altitude: 28.1°
Azimuth: 259.6°
  • 240P/NEAT is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 240P/NEAT 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 240P/NEAT from Earth is currently 476,716,529.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.1866531707 Astronomical Units. Light takes 26m 30.155s to travel from Comet 240P/NEAT and arrive to us.

476,716,529.0
3.1866531707
26m 30.155s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 240P/NEAT 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 240P/NEAT 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 240P/NEAT 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 240P/NEAT to Earth happens on Sat Nov 27 2055 at a distance of 1.107237 Astronomical Units, or 165,640,231 kilometers:

Sat Nov 27 2055
165,640,231
1.107237

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 240P/NEAT, 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 240P/NEAT as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 240P/NEAT at epoch 05 November 2018 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458428.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.44890135
Orbit inclination i 23.50431067°
Perihelion distance q 2.13378084 AU
319,209,071 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.60995375 AU
839,237,137 km
Semi-major axis a 3.87186729 AU
579,223,104 km
Orbital period period 7.6188 years
2,782.7816 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2018-May-15 20:26:33
2,458,254.3518 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-Dec-27 15:12
2,461,037.1334 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 352.08966865839°
Longitude of the ascending node node 74.924884036785°
Mean anomaly M 22.529026401002°
Mean motion n 0.12936696°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 240P/NEAT 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 May 18 01h 21m 40s -11° 31’ 51” 17.09 Cetus
2025 May 19 01h 23m 18s -11° 23’ 04” 17.08 Cetus
2025 May 20 01h 24m 57s -11° 14’ 20” 17.06 Cetus
2025 May 21 01h 26m 35s -11° 05’ 37” 17.04 Cetus
2025 May 22 01h 28m 13s -10° 56’ 57” 17.03 Cetus
2025 May 23 01h 29m 51s -10° 48’ 20” 17.01 Cetus
2025 May 24 01h 31m 29s -10° 39’ 45” 17.00 Cetus
2025 May 25 01h 33m 07s -10° 31’ 13” 16.98 Cetus
2025 May 26 01h 34m 45s -10° 22’ 45” 16.96 Cetus
2025 May 27 01h 36m 23s -10° 14’ 18” 16.95 Cetus
2025 May 28 01h 38m 01s -10° 05’ 56” 16.93 Cetus
2025 May 29 01h 39m 38s -09° 57’ 35” 16.91 Cetus
2025 May 30 01h 41m 16s -09° 49’ 18” 16.90 Cetus
2025 May 31 01h 42m 54s -09° 41’ 03” 16.88 Cetus

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