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Comet 289P/Blanpain

Below the horizon.  Rise: 8:17 | Tran: 13:54 | Set: 19:31
Alt: -7.09°   Az: 272.22°   Direction: West

Comet 289P/Blanpain is in the constellation of Aquarius, at a distance of 304,704,512.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 23h 49m 57s and the Declination is -04° 09’ 47” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 289P/Blanpain is 23.94 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 289P/Blanpain in Aquarius on February, 18 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 289P/Blanpain in Aquarius on February, 18 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 289P/Blanpain is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

289P/Blanpain
RA: 23h 48m 40s
Dec: -04° 18’ 10”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 289P/Blanpain. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 289P/Blanpain?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 289P/Blanpain in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

23h 49m 57s
-04° 09’ 47”
06h 24m 37s
06h 14m 34s

J2000

23h 48m 40s
-04° 18’ 10”

Additional Information

Aquarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.94

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 289P/Blanpain from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 94.3°
Max altitude: 34.3°
Azimuth: 265.8°
  • 289P/Blanpain is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 289P/Blanpain 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 289P/Blanpain from Earth is currently 304,704,512.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.0368238570 Astronomical Units. Light takes 16m 56.385s to travel from Comet 289P/Blanpain and arrive to us.

304,704,512.0
2.0368238570
16m 56.385s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 289P/Blanpain 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 289P/Blanpain 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 289P/Blanpain 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 289P/Blanpain to Earth happens on Fri Dec 12 2003 at a distance of 0.025041 Astronomical Units, or 3,746,121 kilometers:

Fri Dec 12 2003
3,746,121
0.025041

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 289P/Blanpain, 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 289P/Blanpain as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 289P/Blanpain at epoch 19 September 2019 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458746.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.68514056
Orbit inclination i 5.89739346°
Perihelion distance q 0.95887602 AU
143,445,810 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.13194356 AU
767,727,831 km
Semi-major axis a 3.04540979 AU
455,586,821 km
Orbital period period 5.3147 years
1,941.1855 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2019-Dec-20 23:47:35
2,458,838.4914 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-Apr-14 04:14
2,460,779.6769 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 9.8492390066117°
Longitude of the ascending node node 68.924028852313°
Mean anomaly M 342.9398585687°
Mean motion n 0.18545368°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 289P/Blanpain
View Comet 289P/Blanpain in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 289P/Blanpain 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 11 23h 27m 15s -06° 56’ 08” 24.09 Aquarius
2025 Feb 12 23h 30m 04s -06° 35’ 39” 24.08 Aquarius
2025 Feb 13 23h 32m 55s -06° 14’ 59” 24.06 Aquarius
2025 Feb 14 23h 35m 47s -05° 54’ 05” 24.04 Aquarius
2025 Feb 15 23h 38m 40s -05° 32’ 58” 24.02 Aquarius
2025 Feb 16 23h 41m 34s -05° 11’ 38” 24.00 Aquarius
2025 Feb 17 23h 44m 30s -04° 50’ 06” 23.98 Aquarius
2025 Feb 18 23h 47m 27s -04° 28’ 21” 23.96 Aquarius
2025 Feb 19 23h 50m 25s -04° 06’ 24” 23.94 Aquarius
2025 Feb 20 23h 53m 24s -03° 44’ 13” 23.92 Aquarius
2025 Feb 21 23h 56m 25s -03° 21’ 50” 23.90 Aquarius
2025 Feb 22 23h 59m 27s -02° 59’ 15” 23.88 Pisces
2025 Feb 23 00h 02m 31s -02° 36’ 28” 23.86 Pisces
2025 Feb 24 00h 05m 36s -02° 13’ 28” 23.84 Pisces

Additional Resources