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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:45  ☀️ Transit: 13:03  🌅 Sunset: 19:23

Comet 261P/Larson

Comet 261P/Larson is currently in the constellation of Corvus. The current Right Ascension of Comet 261P/Larson is 12h 32m 30s and the Declination is -11° 40’ 50” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 261P/Larson is 29.11 (JPL).

12h 32m 30s
-11° 40’ 50”
Corvus
29.11

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 261P/Larson from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 101.7°
Max altitude: 26.8°
Azimuth: 258.3°
  • 261P/Larson is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Given its current magnitude, 261P/Larson is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • 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.

Available Resources

Comet 261P/Larson Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 261P/Larson 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.

Map showing Comet 261P/Larson in Corvus on March, 28 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 261P/Larson in Corvus on March, 28 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
 = visible to the naked eye
 = binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

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.

261P/Larson
RA: 12h 32m 30s
Dec: -11° 40’ 50”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 261P/Larson
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

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 582,099,828 kilometers, equivalent to 3.891097 Astronomical Units. Light takes 32 minutes and 21.6760 seconds to travel from Comet 261P/Larson and arrive to us.

582,099,828
3.891097
32 minutes and 21.6760 seconds

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 261P/Larson from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 261P/Larson to Earth happens on Sat Sep 1 2091 at a distance of 1.072410 Astronomical Units, or 160,430,263 kilometers:

Sat Sep 1 2091
160,430,263
1.072410

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 29.11.

29.11
-
-

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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 261P/Larson as a function of time

Comet 261P/Larson Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 261P/Larson at epoch 09 February 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456698.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.39187691
Orbit inclination i 6.33654627°
Perihelion distance q 2.18415099 AU
326,744,338 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.99910192 AU
747,855,004 km
Semi-major axis a 3.59162646 AU
537,299,671 km
Orbital period period 6.8068 years
2,486.1949 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2012-Sep-30 02:25:52
2,456,200.6013 JD
Next perihelion transit 2019-Jul-22 07:06
2,458,686.7962 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 58.97020034636°
Longitude of the ascending node node 298.42573157465°
Mean anomaly M 72.095526584882°
Mean motion n 0.14479959°/day

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!

Orbit Diagram of Comet 261P/Larson
View Comet 261P/Larson in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2023 Mar 21 12h 37m 09s -12° 06’ 38” 29.14 Corvus
2023 Mar 22 12h 36m 33s -12° 03’ 24” 29.14 Corvus
2023 Mar 23 12h 35m 57s -12° 00’ 06” 29.13 Corvus
2023 Mar 24 12h 35m 20s -11° 56’ 44” 29.13 Corvus
2023 Mar 25 12h 34m 42s -11° 53’ 20” 29.12 Corvus
2023 Mar 26 12h 34m 05s -11° 49’ 50” 29.12 Corvus
2023 Mar 27 12h 33m 28s -11° 46’ 18” 29.11 Corvus
2023 Mar 28 12h 32m 50s -11° 42’ 43” 29.11 Corvus
2023 Mar 29 12h 32m 12s -11° 39’ 06” 29.11 Virgo
2023 Mar 30 12h 31m 36s -11° 35’ 25” 29.10 Virgo
2023 Mar 31 12h 30m 57s -11° 31’ 41” 29.10 Virgo
2023 Apr 01 12h 30m 20s -11° 27’ 55” 29.10 Virgo
2023 Apr 02 12h 29m 43s -11° 24’ 06” 29.09 Virgo
2023 Apr 03 12h 29m 05s -11° 20’ 15” 29.09 Virgo