Comet 284P/McNaught
Comet 284P/McNaught Position
Comet 284P/McNaught is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension is 13h 34m 19s and the Declination is -00° 11’ 06”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 284P/McNaught is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see fuillscreen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Hihgher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 284P/McNaught is right now (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
The distance of Comet 284P/McNaught from Earth is currently 779,080,519 kilometers, equivalent to 5.207832 Astronomical Units. Light takes 43 minutes and 18.7329 seconds to travel from Comet 284P/McNaught and arrive to us.
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.
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 January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 284P/McNaught to Earth happens on Mon Oct 9 2090 at a distance of 1.03375690 Astronomical Units, or 154,647,832 kilometers:
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 23.76.
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 behvior 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.
Comet 284P/McNaught rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 284P/McNaught rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 284P/McNaught touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet 284P/McNaught Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 284P/McNaught at epoch 12 April 2010 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455299.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.37831446 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 11.87431520° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.28252287 AU 341,460,562 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.06049131 AU 757,038,726 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.67150709 AU 549,249,644 km |
| Orbital period | period |
7.0400 years 2,569.5968 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2007-Aug-18 04:18:49 2,454,330.6797 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2014-Aug-30 18:38 2,456,900.2765 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 202.75781227769° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 144.36420051979° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 135.73152572942° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.14009980°/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!
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Sep 08 | 13h 27m 51s | +00° 31’ 29” | 23.78 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 09 | 13h 28m 41s | +00° 25’ 53” | 23.78 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 10 | 13h 29m 31s | +00° 20’ 16” | 23.78 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 11 | 13h 30m 23s | +00° 14’ 38” | 23.77 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 12 | 13h 31m 14s | +00° 09’ 00” | 23.77 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 13 | 13h 32m 06s | +00° 03’ 21” | 23.77 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 14 | 13h 32m 57s | -00° 02’ 16” | 23.77 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 15 | 13h 33m 50s | -00° 07’ 54” | 23.77 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 16 | 13h 34m 41s | -00° 13’ 32” | 23.76 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 17 | 13h 35m 35s | -00° 19’ 09” | 23.76 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 18 | 13h 36m 28s | -00° 24’ 48” | 23.76 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 19 | 13h 37m 21s | -00° 30’ 26” | 23.75 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 20 | 13h 38m 13s | -00° 36’ 05” | 23.75 | Virgo |
| 2019 Sep 21 | 13h 39m 07s | -00° 41’ 41” | 23.75 | Virgo |