Comet 260P/McNaught
Comet 260P/McNaught Position
Comet 260P/McNaught is currently in the constellation of Auriga. The current Right Ascension is 05h 21m 20s and the Declination is +36° 20’ 39”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 260P/McNaught is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Higher 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 379,266,751 kilometers, equivalent to 2.535242 Astronomical Units. Light takes 21 minutes and 5.0977 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 0.56219189 Astronomical Units, or 84,102,710 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 19.91.
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 17 August 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456887.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.59414045 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 15.76429616° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.49224726 AU 223,237,013 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.86126826 AU 876,833,253 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.67675776 AU 550,035,133 km |
| Orbital period | period |
7.0500 years 2,575.1110 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2012-Sep-12 11:54:14 2,456,182.9960 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2019-Oct-01 14:34 2,458,758.1070 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 15.595493113061° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 351.86645651372° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 98.489517918287° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.13979980°/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Mar 21 | 05h 07m 09s | +36° 47’ 34” | 19.67 | Auriga |
| 2020 Mar 22 | 05h 09m 05s | +36° 43’ 57” | 19.70 | Auriga |
| 2020 Mar 23 | 05h 10m 59s | +36° 40’ 19” | 19.74 | Auriga |
| 2020 Mar 24 | 05h 12m 55s | +36° 36’ 42” | 19.77 | Auriga |
| 2020 Mar 25 | 05h 14m 49s | +36° 33’ 03” | 19.80 | Auriga |
| 2020 Mar 26 | 05h 16m 45s | +36° 29’ 25” | 19.83 | Auriga |
| 2020 Mar 27 | 05h 18m 39s | +36° 25’ 45” | 19.87 | Auriga |
| 2020 Mar 28 | 05h 20m 35s | +36° 22’ 05” | 19.90 | Auriga |
| 2020 Mar 29 | 05h 22m 30s | +36° 18’ 25” | 19.93 | Auriga |
| 2020 Mar 30 | 05h 24m 24s | +36° 14’ 44” | 19.96 | Auriga |
| 2020 Mar 31 | 05h 26m 18s | +36° 11’ 02” | 19.99 | Auriga |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 05h 28m 14s | +36° 07’ 19” | 20.03 | Auriga |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 05h 30m 07s | +36° 03’ 36” | 20.06 | Auriga |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 05h 32m 03s | +35° 59’ 51” | 20.09 | Auriga |