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public  Vigneux-sur-Seine, France Vigneux-sur-Seine, France  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Paris
Sunrise: 5:55 
Transit: 13:54 
Sunset: 21:54
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Comets » 

Comet 240P/NEAT

Below the horizon.  Rise: 4:04 | Tran: 9:37 | Set: 15:11
Alt: -12.36°   Az: 275.76°   Direction: West

Comet 240P/NEAT is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 397,868,080.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 02h 38m 11s and the Declination is -05° 31’ 01” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 240P/NEAT, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 16.27).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 240P/NEAT in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 240P/NEAT in the constellation of Cetus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 240P/NEAT in the constellation of Cetus on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 240P/NEAT against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

240P/NEAT
RA: 02h 36m 54s
Dec: -05° 37’ 36”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 240P/NEAT. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

02h 38m 11s
-05° 31’ 01”
06h 49m 52s
09h 28m 03s

J2000

02h 36m 54s
-05° 37’ 36”

Additional Information

Cetus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
16.27

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 240P/NEAT from Vigneux-sur-Seine, France (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Paris):

Azimuth: 95.6°
Max altitude: 35.8°
Azimuth: 264.5°

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 397,868,080.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.6595838439 Astronomical Units. Light takes 22m 7.145s to travel from comet 240P/NEAT and arrive to us.

397,868,080.0
2.6595838439
22m 7.145s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 240P/NEAT from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 240P/NEAT from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 240P/NEAT from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 240P/NEAT to Earth will happen on Saturday 27 November 2055 at a distance of 1.107237 Astronomical Units, or 165,640,231 kilometers:

Saturday 27 November 2055
165,640,231
1.107237

Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 240P/NEAT, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

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 November, 05 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 May 15, 2018
2,458,254.3518 JD
Next perihelion transit December 27, 2025
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

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 240P/NEAT relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

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
Jun 27 2025 02h 26m 18s -06° 19’ 32” 16.41 Cetus
Jun 28 2025 02h 27m 52s -06° 12’ 56” 16.39 Cetus
Jun 29 2025 02h 29m 27s -06° 06’ 24” 16.37 Cetus
Jun 30 2025 02h 31m 01s -05° 59’ 55” 16.35 Cetus
Jul 01 2025 02h 32m 35s -05° 53’ 31” 16.33 Cetus
Jul 02 2025 02h 34m 09s -05° 47’ 11” 16.32 Cetus
Jul 03 2025 02h 35m 42s -05° 40’ 54” 16.30 Cetus
Jul 04 2025 02h 37m 15s -05° 34’ 43” 16.28 Cetus
Jul 05 2025 02h 38m 48s -05° 28’ 35” 16.26 Cetus
Jul 06 2025 02h 40m 21s -05° 22’ 31” 16.24 Cetus
Jul 07 2025 02h 41m 54s -05° 16’ 30” 16.22 Cetus
Jul 08 2025 02h 43m 26s -05° 10’ 34” 16.20 Cetus
Jul 09 2025 02h 44m 58s -05° 04’ 43” 16.18 Cetus
Jul 10 2025 02h 46m 30s -04° 58’ 55” 16.16 Cetus

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