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Comets » 

Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup

Below the horizon.  Rise: 7:34 | Tran: 14:03 | Set: 20:32
Alt: -25.20°   Az: 321.17°   Direction: North-West

Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 672,784,672.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 23h 15m 42s and the Declination is +06° 04’ 52” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup is 22.90 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup in Pisces on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup in Pisces on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

26P/Grigg-Skjellerup
RA: 23h 14m 26s
Dec: +05° 56’ 38”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

23h 15m 42s
+06° 04’ 52”
09h 40m 50s
08h 56m 33s

J2000

23h 14m 26s
+05° 56’ 38”

Additional Information

Pisces
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.90

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted 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.

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 84.0°
Max altitude: 44.6°
Azimuth: 276.1°
  • 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup from Earth is currently 672,784,672.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.4972877545 Astronomical Units. Light takes 37m 24.168s to travel from Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup and arrive to us.

672,784,672.0
4.4972877545
37m 24.168s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup 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 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup 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 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup to Earth happens on Thu Apr 15 2083 at a distance of 0.308572 Astronomical Units, or 46,161,642 kilometers:

Thu Apr 15 2083
46,161,642
0.308572

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

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup, 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 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup at epoch 30 March 2012 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456017.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.63966796
Orbit inclination i 22.45511403°
Perihelion distance q 1.08972496 AU
163,020,534 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.95872393 AU
741,814,543 km
Semi-major axis a 3.02422445 AU
452,417,538 km
Orbital period period 5.2593 years
1,920.9650 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2013-Jul-06 00:05:12
2,456,479.5036 JD
Next perihelion transit 2018-Oct-08 23:14
2,458,400.4686 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 1.8960856455529°
Longitude of the ascending node node 211.63396647382°
Mean anomaly M 273.4178382901°
Mean motion n 0.18740581°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup
View Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Jan 31 23h 07m 16s +05° 34’ 08” 22.82 Pisces
2025 Feb 01 23h 08m 20s +05° 37’ 49” 22.83 Pisces
2025 Feb 02 23h 09m 23s +05° 41’ 31” 22.85 Pisces
2025 Feb 03 23h 10m 26s +05° 45’ 18” 22.86 Pisces
2025 Feb 04 23h 11m 29s +05° 49’ 07” 22.87 Pisces
2025 Feb 05 23h 12m 33s +05° 53’ 00” 22.88 Pisces
2025 Feb 06 23h 13m 36s +05° 56’ 55” 22.89 Pisces
2025 Feb 07 23h 14m 40s +06° 00’ 54” 22.89 Pisces
2025 Feb 08 23h 15m 43s +06° 04’ 54” 22.90 Pisces
2025 Feb 09 23h 16m 47s +06° 08’ 59” 22.91 Pisces
2025 Feb 10 23h 17m 51s +06° 13’ 06” 22.92 Pisces
2025 Feb 11 23h 18m 54s +06° 17’ 16” 22.93 Pisces
2025 Feb 12 23h 19m 58s +06° 21’ 28” 22.94 Pisces
2025 Feb 13 23h 21m 02s +06° 25’ 43” 22.95 Pisces

Additional Resources