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Comet 284P/McNaught

Above the horizon.  Rise: 18:54 | Tran: 1:43 | Set: 8:28
Alt: 17.70°   Az: 97.56°   Direction: East

Comet 284P/McNaught is in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of 616,453,136.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 11h 24m 42s and the Declination is +09° 11’ 37” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 284P/McNaught is 24.34 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 284P/McNaught in Leo on February, 15 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 284P/McNaught in Leo on February, 15 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 284P/McNaught is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

284P/McNaught
RA: 11h 23m 24s
Dec: +09° 19’ 55”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 284P/McNaught. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 284P/McNaught?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 284P/McNaught in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

11h 24m 42s
+09° 11’ 37”
19h 07m 41s
06h 32m 23s

J2000

11h 23m 24s
+09° 19’ 55”

Additional Information

Leo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.34

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 284P/McNaught from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 80.8°
Max altitude: 47.7°
Azimuth: 279.2°
  • 284P/McNaught is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the East direction at an altitude of 17.70° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 284P/McNaught 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 284P/McNaught from Earth is currently 616,453,136.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.1207346944 Astronomical Units. Light takes 34m 16.266s to travel from Comet 284P/McNaught and arrive to us.

616,453,136.0
4.1207346944
34m 16.266s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 284P/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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 284P/McNaught 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 284P/McNaught 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 284P/McNaught to Earth happens on Fri Oct 6 2090 at a distance of 1.005206 Astronomical Units, or 150,376,662 kilometers:

Fri Oct 6 2090
150,376,662
1.005206

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 284P/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.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 284P/McNaught as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 284P/McNaught at epoch 21 July 2018 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458321.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.37568432
Orbit inclination i 11.85991502°
Perihelion distance q 2.29279963 AU
342,997,944 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.05220131 AU
755,798,560 km
Semi-major axis a 3.67250047 AU
549,398,252 km
Orbital period period 7.0380 years
2,570.6397 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2021-Sep-14 05:45:32
2,459,471.7400 JD
Next perihelion transit 2028-Sep-27 21:06
2,462,042.3797 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 202.77384461202°
Longitude of the ascending node node 144.29311624°
Mean anomaly M 198.91699009521°
Mean motion n 0.14004296°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 284P/McNaught
View Comet 284P/McNaught in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 284P/McNaught 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 Feb 08 11h 28m 20s +08° 35’ 56” 24.36 Leo
2025 Feb 09 11h 27m 54s +08° 40’ 20” 24.36 Leo
2025 Feb 10 11h 27m 28s +08° 44’ 47” 24.36 Leo
2025 Feb 11 11h 27m 01s +08° 49’ 16” 24.35 Leo
2025 Feb 12 11h 26m 33s +08° 53’ 48” 24.35 Leo
2025 Feb 13 11h 26m 05s +08° 58’ 21” 24.34 Leo
2025 Feb 14 11h 25m 37s +09° 02’ 57” 24.34 Leo
2025 Feb 15 11h 25m 08s +09° 07’ 35” 24.34 Leo
2025 Feb 16 11h 24m 38s +09° 12’ 15” 24.34 Leo
2025 Feb 17 11h 24m 08s +09° 16’ 57” 24.33 Leo
2025 Feb 18 11h 23m 38s +09° 21’ 39” 24.33 Leo
2025 Feb 19 11h 23m 07s +09° 26’ 23” 24.33 Leo
2025 Feb 20 11h 22m 36s +09° 31’ 08” 24.33 Leo
2025 Feb 21 11h 22m 04s +09° 35’ 54” 24.32 Leo

Additional Resources