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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:12 
Transit: 12:56 
Sunset: 20:41
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Comets » 

Comet 287P/Christensen

Above the horizon.  Rise: 7:36 | Tran: 14:30 | Set: 21:24
Alt: 10.36°   Az: 85.52°   Direction: East

Comet 287P/Christensen is in the constellation of Orion, at a distance of 770,283,265.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 04h 56m 27s and the Declination is +10° 51’ 59” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 287P/Christensen is 23.10 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 287P/Christensen in Orion on May, 13 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 287P/Christensen in Orion on May, 13 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 287P/Christensen is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

287P/Christensen
RA: 04h 55m 03s
Dec: +10° 49’ 38”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 287P/Christensen. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 287P/Christensen?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 287P/Christensen in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

04h 56m 27s
+10° 51’ 59”
18h 12m 05s
23h 08m 33s

J2000

04h 55m 03s
+10° 49’ 38”

Additional Information

Orion
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.10

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 287P/Christensen from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 79.1°
Max altitude: 49.4°
Azimuth: 280.9°
  • 287P/Christensen is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the East direction at an altitude of 10.36° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 287P/Christensen 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 287P/Christensen from Earth is currently 770,283,265.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.1490255937 Astronomical Units. Light takes 42m 49.388s to travel from Comet 287P/Christensen and arrive to us.

770,283,265.0
5.1490255937
42m 49.388s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 287P/Christensen 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 287P/Christensen 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 287P/Christensen 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 287P/Christensen to Earth happens on Thu Aug 31 2023 at a distance of 2.046697 Astronomical Units, or 306,181,458 kilometers:

Thu Aug 31 2023
306,181,458
2.046697

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 287P/Christensen, 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 287P/Christensen as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 287P/Christensen at epoch 10 July 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456484.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.26936948
Orbit inclination i 16.29835487°
Perihelion distance q 3.05311997 AU
456,740,248 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.30437366 AU
793,523,006 km
Semi-major axis a 4.17874682 AU
625,131,627 km
Orbital period period 8.5423 years
3,120.0928 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2014-Dec-28 17:13:00
2,457,020.2174 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-Jul-14 19:26
2,460,140.3102 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 189.14864423695°
Longitude of the ascending node node 139.06888892645°
Mean anomaly M 298.18829728155°
Mean motion n 0.11538118°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 287P/Christensen
View Comet 287P/Christensen in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 287P/Christensen 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 May 06 04h 48m 44s +10° 27’ 05” 23.04 Orion
2025 May 07 04h 49m 47s +10° 30’ 39” 23.05 Orion
2025 May 08 04h 50m 50s +10° 34’ 10” 23.06 Orion
2025 May 09 04h 51m 53s +10° 37’ 37” 23.07 Orion
2025 May 10 04h 52m 56s +10° 41’ 01” 23.08 Orion
2025 May 11 04h 53m 59s +10° 44’ 23” 23.09 Orion
2025 May 12 04h 55m 03s +10° 47’ 41” 23.10 Orion
2025 May 13 04h 56m 07s +10° 50’ 57” 23.10 Orion
2025 May 14 04h 57m 10s +10° 54’ 08” 23.11 Orion
2025 May 15 04h 58m 14s +10° 57’ 17” 23.12 Orion
2025 May 16 04h 59m 18s +11° 00’ 23” 23.13 Orion
2025 May 17 05h 00m 23s +11° 03’ 26” 23.14 Orion
2025 May 18 05h 01m 27s +11° 06’ 26” 23.14 Orion
2025 May 19 05h 02m 31s +11° 09’ 22” 23.15 Orion

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