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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:36  ☀️ Transit: 13:02  🌅 Sunset: 19:29

Comet 327P/Van Ness

Comet 327P/Van Ness is currently in the constellation of Eridanus. The current Right Ascension of Comet 327P/Van Ness is 04h 49m 55s and the Declination is -09° 31’ 57” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 327P/Van Ness is 22.84 (JPL).

04h 49m 55s
-09° 31’ 57”
Eridanus
22.84

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 327P/Van Ness from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 99.6°
Max altitude: 29.0°
Azimuth: 260.5°
  • 327P/Van Ness is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-East direction at an altitude of 26° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 327P/Van Ness 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 327P/Van Ness Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 327P/Van Ness 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 327P/Van Ness in Eridanus on April, 01 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 327P/Van Ness in Eridanus on April, 01 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 327P/Van Ness is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

327P/Van Ness
RA: 04h 49m 55s
Dec: -09° 31’ 57”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 327P/Van Ness
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 327P/Van Ness?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 327P/Van Ness in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 327P/Van Ness Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 327P/Van Ness from Earth is currently 418,192,727 kilometers, equivalent to 2.795446 Astronomical Units. Light takes 23 minutes and 14.9408 seconds to travel from Comet 327P/Van Ness and arrive to us.

418,192,727
2.795446
23 minutes and 14.9408 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 327P/Van Ness 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 327P/Van Ness 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 327P/Van Ness from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 327P/Van Ness to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 327P/Van Ness to Earth happens on Thu Sep 18 2042 at a distance of 0.571655 Astronomical Units, or 85,518,393 kilometers:

Thu Sep 18 2042
85,518,393
0.571655

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

Comet 327P/Van Ness Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 327P/Van Ness is 22.84.

22.84
-
-

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 327P/Van Ness, 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 327P/Van Ness as a function of time

Comet 327P/Van Ness Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 327P/Van Ness at epoch 19 September 2020 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459112.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.56282486
Orbit inclination i 36.24500210°
Perihelion distance q 1.55756740 AU
233,008,767 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.56803175 AU
832,965,695 km
Semi-major axis a 3.56279957 AU
532,987,231 km
Orbital period period 6.7250 years
2,456.3232 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Sep-02 13:38:18
2,459,825.0683 JD
Next perihelion transit 2029-May-24 21:23
2,462,281.3915 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 185.02173846881°
Longitude of the ascending node node 173.97424873127°
Mean anomaly M 255.56562589307°
Mean motion n 0.14656052°/day

Visualization of Comet 327P/Van Ness Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 327P/Van Ness with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 327P/Van Ness 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 327P/Van Ness
View Comet 327P/Van Ness in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 327P/Van Ness 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 327P/Van Ness computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 327P/Van Ness in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 25 04h 37m 27s -10° 57’ 29” 22.60 Eridanus
2023 Mar 26 04h 39m 05s -10° 45’ 47” 22.63 Eridanus
2023 Mar 27 04h 40m 42s -10° 34’ 14” 22.66 Eridanus
2023 Mar 28 04h 42m 21s -10° 22’ 48” 22.69 Eridanus
2023 Mar 29 04h 43m 59s -10° 11’ 30” 22.72 Eridanus
2023 Mar 30 04h 45m 38s -10° 00’ 20” 22.76 Eridanus
2023 Mar 31 04h 47m 17s -09° 49’ 19” 22.79 Eridanus
2023 Apr 01 04h 48m 56s -09° 38’ 26” 22.82 Eridanus
2023 Apr 02 04h 50m 34s -09° 27’ 42” 22.85 Eridanus
2023 Apr 03 04h 52m 13s -09° 17’ 04” 22.88 Eridanus
2023 Apr 04 04h 53m 52s -09° 06’ 37” 22.91 Eridanus
2023 Apr 05 04h 55m 31s -08° 56’ 16” 22.94 Eridanus
2023 Apr 06 04h 57m 10s -08° 46’ 04” 22.97 Eridanus
2023 Apr 07 04h 58m 49s -08° 35’ 59” 23.00 Eridanus