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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:43  ☀️ Transit: 13:03  🌅 Sunset: 19:24

Comet 284P/McNaught

Comet 284P/McNaught is currently in the constellation of Orion. The current Right Ascension of Comet 284P/McNaught is 06h 13m 47s and the Declination is +16° 15’ 25” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 284P/McNaught is 22.69 (JPL).

06h 13m 47s
+16° 15’ 25”
Orion
22.69

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 284P/McNaught from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 73.7°
Max altitude: 54.8°
Azimuth: 286.3°
  • 284P/McNaught is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • 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.

Available Resources

Comet 284P/McNaught Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 284P/McNaught 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 284P/McNaught in Orion on March, 29 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 284P/McNaught in Orion on March, 29 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 284P/McNaught is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

284P/McNaught
RA: 06h 13m 47s
Dec: +16° 15’ 25”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 284P/McNaught
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

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.

Comet 284P/McNaught Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 284P/McNaught from Earth is currently 577,856,545 kilometers, equivalent to 3.862732 Astronomical Units. Light takes 32 minutes and 7.5220 seconds to travel from Comet 284P/McNaught and arrive to us.

577,856,545
3.862732
32 minutes and 7.5220 seconds

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 of Comet 284P/McNaught to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 284P/McNaught to Earth happens on Sun Oct 8 2090 at a distance of 1.020509 Astronomical Units, or 152,665,955 kilometers:

Sun Oct 8 2090
152,665,955
1.020509

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

Comet 284P/McNaught Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 284P/McNaught is 22.69.

22.69
-
-

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 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

Comet 284P/McNaught Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 284P/McNaught at epoch 04 October 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456570.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.37696784
Orbit inclination i 11.86209134°
Perihelion distance q 2.28921595 AU
342,461,832 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.05941255 AU
756,877,345 km
Semi-major axis a 3.67431425 AU
549,669,589 km
Orbital period period 7.0432 years
2,572.5444 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2014-Sep-02 12:09:45
2,456,903.0068 JD
Next perihelion transit 2021-Sep-18 01:13
2,459,475.5511 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 202.87158087445°
Longitude of the ascending node node 144.29768321929°
Mean anomaly M 313.46924253121°
Mean motion n 0.13993928°/day

Visualization of Comet 284P/McNaught Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 284P/McNaught with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 284P/McNaught 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 284P/McNaught
View Comet 284P/McNaught in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 284P/McNaught 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 284P/McNaught in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 22 06h 09m 56s +15° 55’ 33” 22.57 Orion
2023 Mar 23 06h 10m 26s +15° 58’ 27” 22.59 Orion
2023 Mar 24 06h 10m 57s +16° 01’ 18” 22.60 Orion
2023 Mar 25 06h 11m 27s +16° 04’ 05” 22.62 Orion
2023 Mar 26 06h 12m 00s +16° 06’ 52” 22.64 Orion
2023 Mar 27 06h 12m 33s +16° 09’ 37” 22.65 Orion
2023 Mar 28 06h 13m 06s +16° 12’ 19” 22.67 Orion
2023 Mar 29 06h 13m 41s +16° 14’ 57” 22.69 Orion
2023 Mar 30 06h 14m 17s +16° 17’ 35” 22.71 Orion
2023 Mar 31 06h 14m 53s +16° 20’ 09” 22.72 Orion
2023 Apr 01 06h 15m 29s +16° 22’ 41” 22.74 Orion
2023 Apr 02 06h 16m 06s +16° 25’ 10” 22.75 Orion
2023 Apr 03 06h 16m 45s +16° 27’ 38” 22.77 Orion
2023 Apr 04 06h 17m 24s +16° 30’ 02” 22.79 Orion