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public  Thāsra, India Thāsra, India  ⓘ
TimezoneAsia/Kolkata
Sunrise: 5:57 
Transit: 12:41 
Sunset: 19:25
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Comets » 

Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup

Above the horizon.  Rise: 0:46 | Tran: 7:17 | Set: 13:44
Alt: 13.17°   Az: 283.14°   Direction: West-North-West

Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 664,482,803.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 21m 39s and the Declination is +16° 59’ 52” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 23.23).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup in the constellation of Pisces on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup in the constellation of Pisces on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

26P/Grigg-Skjellerup
RA: 01h 20m 17s
Dec: +16° 51’ 52”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 21m 39s
+16° 59’ 52”
05h 30m 07s
06h 51m 46s

J2000

01h 20m 17s
+16° 51’ 52”

Additional Information

Pisces
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.23

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup from Thāsra, India (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Kolkata):

Azimuth: 73.0°
Max altitude: 84.2°
Azimuth: 287.0°

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 664,482,803.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.4417931879 Astronomical Units. Light takes 36m 56.476s to travel from comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup and arrive to us.

664,482,803.0
4.4417931879
36m 56.476s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup to Earth will happen on Thursday 15 April 2083 at a distance of 0.308572 Astronomical Units, or 46,161,642 kilometers:

Thursday 15 April 2083
46,161,642
0.308572

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

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 March, 30 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 July 6, 2013
2,456,479.5036 JD
Next perihelion transit October 8, 2018
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

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

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
Jun 25 2025 01h 18m 21s +16° 39’ 42” 23.25 Pisces
Jun 26 2025 01h 18m 50s +16° 42’ 38” 23.25 Pisces
Jun 27 2025 01h 19m 19s +16° 45’ 32” 23.24 Pisces
Jun 28 2025 01h 19m 47s +16° 48’ 22” 23.24 Pisces
Jun 29 2025 01h 20m 14s +16° 51’ 08” 23.24 Pisces
Jun 30 2025 01h 20m 40s +16° 53’ 51” 23.23 Pisces
Jul 01 2025 01h 21m 06s +16° 56’ 30” 23.23 Pisces
Jul 02 2025 01h 21m 31s +16° 59’ 05” 23.23 Pisces
Jul 03 2025 01h 21m 56s +17° 01’ 37” 23.22 Pisces
Jul 04 2025 01h 22m 20s +17° 04’ 05” 23.22 Pisces
Jul 05 2025 01h 22m 43s +17° 06’ 28” 23.21 Pisces
Jul 06 2025 01h 23m 05s +17° 08’ 49” 23.21 Pisces
Jul 07 2025 01h 23m 27s +17° 11’ 05” 23.20 Pisces
Jul 08 2025 01h 23m 49s +17° 13’ 18” 23.20 Pisces

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