Comet 260P/McNaught
Comet 260P/McNaught Position
Comet 260P/McNaught is currently in the constellation of Andromeda. The current Right Ascension is 02h 29m 50s and the Declination is +46° 23’ 13”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 260P/McNaught is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see fuillscreen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Hihgher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 260P/McNaught is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 260P/McNaught?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 260P/McNaught in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 260P/McNaught Distance
The distance of Comet 260P/McNaught from Earth is currently 135,273,069 kilometers, equivalent to 0.904245 Astronomical Units. Light takes 7 minutes and 31.2224 seconds to travel from Comet 260P/McNaught and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 260P/McNaught 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.
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 260P/McNaught from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 260P/McNaught to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 260P/McNaught to Earth happens on Fri Oct 4 2019 at a distance of 0.56219617 Astronomical Units, or 84,103,350 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 260P/McNaught brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 260P/McNaught is 15.97.
The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behvior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 260P/McNaught, 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.
Comet 260P/McNaught rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Comet 260P/McNaught is circumpolar and transits at 20:52 UTC (altitude: 84.9°)
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 260P/McNaught touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet 260P/McNaught Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 260P/McNaught at epoch 20 October 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456586.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.59375213 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 15.74406574° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.49548613 AU 223,721,542 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.86694566 AU 877,682,579 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.68121589 AU 550,702,060 km |
| Orbital period | period |
7.0600 years 2,579.7960 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2012-Sep-12 12:00:11 2,456,183.0001 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2019-Oct-06 07:06 2,458,762.7961 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 15.67644140264° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 351.89941776381° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 56.306759187937° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.13954592°/day |
Visualization of Comet 260P/McNaught Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 260P/McNaught with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 260P/McNaught and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
View Comet 260P/McNaught in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 260P/McNaught 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 260P/McNaught computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 260P/McNaught in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Dec 08 | 02h 25m 40s | +47° 31’ 15” | 15.65 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 09 | 02h 26m 08s | +47° 21’ 43” | 15.69 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 10 | 02h 26m 39s | +47° 12’ 07” | 15.74 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 11 | 02h 27m 11s | +47° 02’ 29” | 15.78 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 12 | 02h 27m 47s | +46° 52’ 46” | 15.83 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 13 | 02h 28m 24s | +46° 43’ 03” | 15.87 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 14 | 02h 29m 05s | +46° 33’ 17” | 15.92 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 15 | 02h 29m 48s | +46° 23’ 31” | 15.97 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 16 | 02h 30m 33s | +46° 13’ 46” | 16.01 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 17 | 02h 31m 20s | +46° 04’ 01” | 16.06 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 18 | 02h 32m 11s | +45° 54’ 18” | 16.11 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 19 | 02h 33m 02s | +45° 44’ 35” | 16.15 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 20 | 02h 33m 56s | +45° 34’ 55” | 16.20 | Andromeda |
| 2019 Dec 21 | 02h 34m 53s | +45° 25’ 18” | 16.25 | Andromeda |