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Sunrise: 4:44 
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Comet 284P/McNaught

Above the horizon.  Rise: 10:53 | Tran: 17:53 | Set: 0:53
Alt: 50.52°   Az: 176.15°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet 284P/McNaught is in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of 792,960,578.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 11h 01m 57s and the Declination is +12° 03’ 09” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 284P/McNaught, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 24.86).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 284P/McNaught in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 284P/McNaught in the constellation of Leo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 284P/McNaught in the constellation of Leo 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 284P/McNaught 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.

284P/McNaught
RA: 11h 00m 37s
Dec: +12° 11’ 23”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 284P/McNaught. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

11h 01m 57s
+12° 03’ 09”
23h 50m 00s
10h 51m 57s

J2000

11h 00m 37s
+12° 11’ 23”

Additional Information

Leo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.86

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

Azimuth: 77.9°
Max altitude: 50.6°
Azimuth: 282.0°

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 284P/McNaught from Earth is currently 792,960,578.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.3006140682 Astronomical Units. Light takes 44m 5.032s to travel from comet 284P/McNaught and arrive to us.

792,960,578.0
5.3006140682
44m 5.032s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 284P/McNaught 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 284P/McNaught 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 284P/McNaught 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 284P/McNaught to Earth will happen on Friday 6 October 2090 at a distance of 1.005206 Astronomical Units, or 150,376,662 kilometers:

Friday 6 October 2090
150,376,662
1.005206

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 284P/McNaught, 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 284P/McNaught as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 284P/McNaught at epoch July, 21 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 September 14, 2021
2,459,471.7400 JD
Next perihelion transit September 27, 2028
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

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 284P/McNaught 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 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
Jun 16 2025 10h 58m 36s +12° 25’ 29” 24.82 Leo
Jun 17 2025 10h 59m 00s +12° 22’ 46” 24.82 Leo
Jun 18 2025 10h 59m 25s +12° 19’ 59” 24.83 Leo
Jun 19 2025 10h 59m 51s +12° 17’ 09” 24.83 Leo
Jun 20 2025 11h 00m 17s +12° 14’ 15” 24.84 Leo
Jun 21 2025 11h 00m 43s +12° 11’ 19” 24.85 Leo
Jun 22 2025 11h 01m 10s +12° 08’ 20” 24.85 Leo
Jun 23 2025 11h 01m 38s +12° 05’ 18” 24.86 Leo
Jun 24 2025 11h 02m 06s +12° 02’ 12” 24.86 Leo
Jun 25 2025 11h 02m 35s +11° 59’ 04” 24.87 Leo
Jun 26 2025 11h 03m 04s +11° 55’ 54” 24.87 Leo
Jun 27 2025 11h 03m 33s +11° 52’ 40” 24.88 Leo
Jun 28 2025 11h 04m 03s +11° 49’ 23” 24.88 Leo
Jun 29 2025 11h 04m 34s +11° 46’ 05” 24.89 Leo

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