Comet 260P/McNaught
Comet 260P/McNaught is currently in the constellation of Leo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 260P/McNaught is 11h 02m 54s and the Declination is +04° 15’ 48” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 260P/McNaught is 25.99 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Comet 260P/McNaught [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:
- 260P/McNaught is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the South-West direction at an altitude of 38° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 260P/McNaught is visible only through long exposure photography.
- See also 260P/McNaught rise and set times.
- 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.
Additional information about Comet 260P/McNaught available on TheSkyLive:
Comet 260P/McNaught Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet 260P/McNaught finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.
Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 260P/McNaught is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
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 from Earth
The distance of Comet 260P/McNaught from Earth is currently 793,236,439 kilometers, equivalent to 5.302458 Astronomical Units. Light takes 44 minutes and 5.9520 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 0.562196 Astronomical Units, or 84,103,322 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 25.99.
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 behavior 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
Today's Comet 260P/McNaught rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 260P/McNaught touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric 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 22 September 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456923.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.59421594 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 15.76701874° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.49175912 AU 223,163,989 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.86071862 AU 876,751,028 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.67623887 AU 549,957,509 km |
| Orbital period | period |
7.0488 years 2,574.5659 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2012-Sep-12 12:02:06 2,456,183.0015 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2019-Oct-01 01:36 2,458,757.5673 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 15.584845934082° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 351.86427924° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 103.54346568099° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.13982940°/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 May 15 | 11h 03m 14s | +04° 18’ 01” | 25.93 | Leo |
| 2022 May 16 | 11h 03m 09s | +04° 17’ 57” | 25.93 | Leo |
| 2022 May 17 | 11h 03m 05s | +04° 17’ 51” | 25.94 | Leo |
| 2022 May 18 | 11h 03m 02s | +04° 17’ 39” | 25.95 | Leo |
| 2022 May 19 | 11h 02m 58s | +04° 17’ 25” | 25.96 | Leo |
| 2022 May 20 | 11h 02m 57s | +04° 17’ 06” | 25.97 | Leo |
| 2022 May 21 | 11h 02m 56s | +04° 16’ 42” | 25.98 | Leo |
| 2022 May 22 | 11h 02m 54s | +04° 16’ 15” | 25.98 | Leo |
| 2022 May 23 | 11h 02m 54s | +04° 15’ 45” | 25.99 | Leo |
| 2022 May 24 | 11h 02m 56s | +04° 15’ 11” | 26.00 | Leo |
| 2022 May 25 | 11h 02m 57s | +04° 14’ 32” | 26.01 | Leo |
| 2022 May 26 | 11h 02m 58s | +04° 13’ 50” | 26.02 | Leo |
| 2022 May 27 | 11h 03m 02s | +04° 13’ 04” | 26.03 | Leo |
| 2022 May 28 | 11h 03m 05s | +04° 12’ 14” | 26.04 | Leo |