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Comet 246P/NEAT

Below the horizon.  Rise: 11:02 | Tran: 18:51 | Set: 2:44
Alt: -13.29°   Az: 29.21°   Direction: North-North-East

Comet 246P/NEAT is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 733,375,872.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 04h 04m 24s and the Declination is +20° 26’ 20” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 246P/NEAT is 19.95 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 246P/NEAT in Taurus on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 246P/NEAT in Taurus on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 246P/NEAT is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

246P/NEAT
RA: 04h 02m 56s
Dec: +20° 22’ 15”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 246P/NEAT. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 246P/NEAT?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 246P/NEAT in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

04h 04m 24s
+20° 26’ 20”
14h 01m 47s
18h 06m 12s

J2000

04h 02m 56s
+20° 22’ 15”

Additional Information

Taurus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
19.95

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 246P/NEAT from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 69.6°
Max altitude: 59.0°
Azimuth: 290.4°
  • 246P/NEAT is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 246P/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 246P/NEAT from Earth is currently 733,375,872.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.9023149098 Astronomical Units. Light takes 40m 46.279s to travel from Comet 246P/NEAT and arrive to us.

733,375,872.0
4.9023149098
40m 46.279s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 246P/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 246P/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 246P/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 246P/NEAT to Earth happens on Thu Jul 1 2021 at a distance of 1.944327 Astronomical Units, or 290,867,158 kilometers:

Thu Jul 1 2021
290,867,158
1.944327

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 246P/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 246P/NEAT as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 246P/NEAT at epoch 20 May 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456433.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.28504446
Orbit inclination i 15.97171595°
Perihelion distance q 2.87972047 AU
430,800,052 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.17594265 AU
774,310,001 km
Semi-major axis a 4.02783156 AU
602,555,026 km
Orbital period period 8.0838 years
2,952.6052 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2013-Jan-28 15:13:27
2,456,321.1343 JD
Next perihelion transit 2021-Feb-28 05:44
2,459,273.7395 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 176.17171844065°
Longitude of the ascending node node 78.780535978111°
Mean anomaly M 13.700320180649°
Mean motion n 0.12192622°/day

Orbit Visualization

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 246P/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 Jan 31 04h 04m 17s +20° 14’ 44” 19.90 Taurus
2025 Feb 01 04h 04m 16s +20° 16’ 13” 19.91 Taurus
2025 Feb 02 04h 04m 15s +20° 17’ 43” 19.91 Taurus
2025 Feb 03 04h 04m 14s +20° 19’ 16” 19.92 Taurus
2025 Feb 04 04h 04m 15s +20° 20’ 50” 19.93 Taurus
2025 Feb 05 04h 04m 17s +20° 22’ 26” 19.94 Taurus
2025 Feb 06 04h 04m 19s +20° 24’ 04” 19.94 Taurus
2025 Feb 07 04h 04m 23s +20° 25’ 42” 19.95 Taurus
2025 Feb 08 04h 04m 27s +20° 27’ 23” 19.96 Taurus
2025 Feb 09 04h 04m 32s +20° 29’ 07” 19.97 Taurus
2025 Feb 10 04h 04m 37s +20° 30’ 51” 19.97 Taurus
2025 Feb 11 04h 04m 44s +20° 32’ 38” 19.98 Taurus
2025 Feb 12 04h 04m 51s +20° 34’ 26” 19.99 Taurus
2025 Feb 13 04h 05m 00s +20° 36’ 15” 20.00 Taurus

Additional Resources