Home
Search Objects
Major Solar System Objects
Comets
Asteroids
Spacecrafts
Star Maps
Orbits
public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:03 
Transit: 13:06 
Sunset: 21:08
warning Set your observing location to get relevant data
wb_twilight   (Astronomical Twilight)  
Planets Visible Tonight
Planets Visible Tonight
 • 
What's Visible Now • The Sky Tonight
Search  close
Comets » 

Comet 242P/Spahr

Below the horizon.  Rise: 6:11 | Tran: 11:54 | Set: 17:36
Alt: -37.27°   Az: 32.14°   Direction: North-North-East

Comet 242P/Spahr is in the constellation of Monoceros, at a distance of 737,282,197.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 06h 31m 51s and the Declination is -03° 06’ 23” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 242P/Spahr, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 19.07.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 242P/Spahr in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 242P/Spahr in the constellation of Monoceros on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 242P/Spahr in the constellation of Monoceros 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 242P/Spahr 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.

242P/Spahr
RA: 06h 30m 34s
Dec: -03° 05’ 14”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 242P/Spahr. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

06h 31m 51s
-03° 06’ 23”
13h 40m 19s
20h 12m 10s

J2000

06h 30m 34s
-03° 05’ 14”

Additional Information

Monoceros
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
19.07

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 242P/Spahr from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 93.1°
Max altitude: 35.4°
Azimuth: 266.9°

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 242P/Spahr from Earth is currently 737,282,197.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.9284270795 Astronomical Units. Light takes 40m 59.309s to travel from comet 242P/Spahr and arrive to us.

737,282,197.0
4.9284270795
40m 59.309s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 242P/Spahr 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 242P/Spahr 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 242P/Spahr 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 242P/Spahr to Earth will happen on Friday 17 October 2036 at a distance of 3.065836 Astronomical Units, or 458,642,481 kilometers:

Friday 17 October 2036
458,642,481
3.065836

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 242P/Spahr, 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 242P/Spahr as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 242P/Spahr at epoch September, 30 2010 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455470.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.31060857
Orbit inclination i 32.70387937°
Perihelion distance q 3.91921318 AU
586,305,948 km
Aphelion distance Q 7.45085331 AU
1,114,631,792 km
Semi-major axis a 5.68503324 AU
850,468,870 km
Orbital period period 13.5553 years
4,951.0572 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp March 31, 2012
2,456,018.2130 JD
Next perihelion transit October 20, 2025
2,460,969.2702 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 248.52949968913°
Longitude of the ascending node node 181.02804796066°
Mean anomaly M 320.17483230633°
Mean motion n 0.07271174°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 242P/Spahr 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 242P/Spahr 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
Jul 09 2025 06h 23m 25s -02° 53’ 47” 19.06 Monoceros
Jul 10 2025 06h 24m 37s -02° 55’ 20” 19.06 Monoceros
Jul 11 2025 06h 25m 49s -02° 56’ 58” 19.06 Monoceros
Jul 12 2025 06h 27m 02s -02° 58’ 42” 19.06 Monoceros
Jul 13 2025 06h 28m 14s -03° 00’ 28” 19.06 Monoceros
Jul 14 2025 06h 29m 26s -03° 02’ 21” 19.06 Monoceros
Jul 15 2025 06h 30m 37s -03° 04’ 18” 19.06 Monoceros
Jul 16 2025 06h 31m 49s -03° 06’ 20” 19.07 Monoceros
Jul 17 2025 06h 33m 01s -03° 08’ 26” 19.07 Monoceros
Jul 18 2025 06h 34m 12s -03° 10’ 38” 19.07 Monoceros
Jul 19 2025 06h 35m 23s -03° 12’ 53” 19.07 Monoceros
Jul 20 2025 06h 36m 34s -03° 15’ 13” 19.07 Monoceros
Jul 21 2025 06h 37m 45s -03° 17’ 38” 19.07 Monoceros
Jul 22 2025 06h 38m 56s -03° 20’ 08” 19.07 Monoceros

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive