Comet 260P/McNaught
Comet 260P/McNaught is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 260P/McNaught is 11h 59m 54s and the Declination is -02° 50’ 37” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 260P/McNaught is 26.75 (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 below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- 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.
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
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Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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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 1,013,351,815 kilometers, equivalent to 6.773838 Astronomical Units. Light takes 56 minutes and 20.1778 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 84,103,294 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 26.75.
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 12 October 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456943.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.59426383 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 15.76861437° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.49146421 AU 223,119,870 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.86042758 AU 876,707,490 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.67594590 AU 549,913,680 km |
| Orbital period | period |
7.0479 years 2,574.2581 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2012-Sep-12 12:08:17 2,456,183.0058 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2019-Sep-30 18:19 2,458,757.2639 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 15.578161656026° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 351.86319273167° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 106.35216626541° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.13984612°/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 Sep 19 | 11h 55m 18s | -02° 16’ 18” | 26.74 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 20 | 11h 55m 58s | -02° 21’ 11” | 26.75 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 21 | 11h 56m 36s | -02° 26’ 03” | 26.75 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 22 | 11h 57m 15s | -02° 30’ 55” | 26.75 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 23 | 11h 57m 55s | -02° 35’ 48” | 26.75 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 24 | 11h 58m 33s | -02° 40’ 41” | 26.75 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 25 | 11h 59m 13s | -02° 45’ 33” | 26.75 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 26 | 11h 59m 53s | -02° 50’ 27” | 26.75 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 27 | 12h 00m 32s | -02° 55’ 22” | 26.75 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 28 | 12h 01m 10s | -03° 00’ 15” | 26.75 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 29 | 12h 01m 50s | -03° 05’ 09” | 26.75 | Virgo |
| 2022 Sep 30 | 12h 02m 29s | -03° 10’ 04” | 26.76 | Virgo |
| 2022 Oct 01 | 12h 03m 07s | -03° 14’ 57” | 26.76 | Virgo |
| 2022 Oct 02 | 12h 03m 47s | -03° 19’ 51” | 26.76 | Virgo |