Comet 261P/Larson

Comet 261P/Larson is currently in the constellation of Cancer. The current Right Ascension of Comet 261P/Larson is 09h 13m 48s and the Declination is +14° 57’ 10” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 261P/Larson is 25.76 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 261P/Larson [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]:

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 261P/Larson available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 261P/Larson?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 261P/Larson from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 261P/Larson rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 261P/Larson?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 261P/Larson orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 261P/Larson with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 261P/Larson for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 261P/Larson in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 261P/Larson with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 261P/Larson is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 261P/Larson?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 261P/Larson in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 261P/Larson Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 261P/Larson from Earth is currently 568,670,941 kilometers, equivalent to 3.801330 Astronomical Units. Light takes 31 minutes and 36.8821 seconds to travel from Comet 261P/Larson and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 261P/Larson 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 261P/Larson from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 261P/Larson to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 261P/Larson to Earth happens on Sat Sep 1 2091 at a distance of 1.072489 Astronomical Units, or 160,442,061 kilometers:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet 261P/Larson brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 261P/Larson is 25.76.

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 261P/Larson, 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 261P/Larson rise and set times

Today's Comet 261P/Larson 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 261P/Larson 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.

Visualization of Comet 261P/Larson Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 261P/Larson with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 261P/Larson 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!

Comet 261P/Larson 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 261P/Larson computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 261P/Larson in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2020 Oct 20	09h 09m 11s	+15° 25’ 22”	25.73	Cancer
2020 Oct 21	09h 09m 51s	+15° 21’ 25”	25.73	Cancer
2020 Oct 22	09h 10m 31s	+15° 17’ 31”	25.74	Cancer
2020 Oct 23	09h 11m 08s	+15° 13’ 41”	25.74	Cancer
2020 Oct 24	09h 11m 45s	+15° 09’ 52”	25.75	Cancer
2020 Oct 25	09h 12m 23s	+15° 06’ 06”	25.75	Cancer
2020 Oct 26	09h 12m 59s	+15° 02’ 25”	25.76	Cancer
2020 Oct 27	09h 13m 33s	+14° 58’ 45”	25.76	Cancer
2020 Oct 28	09h 14m 08s	+14° 55’ 08”	25.77	Cancer
2020 Oct 29	09h 14m 41s	+14° 51’ 33”	25.77	Cancer
2020 Oct 30	09h 15m 15s	+14° 48’ 02”	25.78	Cancer
2020 Oct 31	09h 15m 46s	+14° 44’ 35”	25.78	Cancer
2020 Nov 01	09h 16m 17s	+14° 41’ 09”	25.79	Cancer
2020 Nov 02	09h 16m 46s	+14° 37’ 49”	25.79	Cancer