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Comets » 

Comet 327P/Van Ness

Below the horizon.  Rise: 20:02 | Tran: 1:46 | Set: 7:24
Alt: -42.17°   Az: 5.71°   Direction: North

Comet 327P/Van Ness is in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of 654,243,064.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 11h 07m 22s and the Declination is -03° 47’ 10” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 327P/Van Ness is 26.30 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 327P/Van Ness in Leo on February, 10 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 327P/Van Ness in Leo on February, 10 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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: 11h 06m 05s
Dec: -03° 39’ 01”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 327P/Van Ness. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

11h 07m 22s
-03° 47’ 10”
12h 16m 57s
23h 24m 20s

J2000

11h 06m 05s
-03° 39’ 01”

Additional Information

Leo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
26.30

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 327P/Van Ness from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 93.8°
Max altitude: 34.7°
Azimuth: 266.2°
  • 327P/Van Ness is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 327P/Van Ness from Earth is currently 654,243,064.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.3733447604 Astronomical Units. Light takes 36m 22.320s to travel from Comet 327P/Van Ness and arrive to us.

654,243,064.0
4.3733447604
36m 22.320s

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

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 327P/Van Ness to Earth happens on Thu Sep 18 2042 at a distance of 0.571656 Astronomical Units, or 85,518,466 kilometers:

Thu Sep 18 2042
85,518,466
0.571656

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 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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 327P/Van Ness at epoch 25 September 2020 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459118.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.56283038
Orbit inclination i 36.24515588°
Perihelion distance q 1.55754067 AU
233,004,769 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.56802619 AU
832,964,864 km
Semi-major axis a 3.56278343 AU
532,984,816 km
Orbital period period 6.7250 years
2,456.3065 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Sep-02 13:33:36
2,459,825.0650 JD
Next perihelion transit 2029-May-24 20:55
2,462,281.3715 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 185.02202491169°
Longitude of the ascending node node 173.97441924073°
Mean anomaly M 256.44476482509°
Mean motion n 0.14656151°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 327P/Van Ness
View Comet 327P/Van Ness in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 03 11h 11m 03s -04° 21’ 27” 26.31 Leo
2025 Feb 04 11h 10m 36s -04° 17’ 14” 26.31 Leo
2025 Feb 05 11h 10m 08s -04° 12’ 55” 26.31 Leo
2025 Feb 06 11h 09m 39s -04° 08’ 32” 26.30 Leo
2025 Feb 07 11h 09m 10s -04° 04’ 02” 26.30 Leo
2025 Feb 08 11h 08m 41s -03° 59’ 26” 26.30 Leo
2025 Feb 09 11h 08m 11s -03° 54’ 46” 26.30 Leo
2025 Feb 10 11h 07m 40s -03° 50’ 00” 26.30 Leo
2025 Feb 11 11h 07m 09s -03° 45’ 09” 26.30 Leo
2025 Feb 12 11h 06m 38s -03° 40’ 12” 26.30 Leo
2025 Feb 13 11h 06m 06s -03° 35’ 11” 26.29 Leo
2025 Feb 14 11h 05m 34s -03° 30’ 05” 26.29 Leo
2025 Feb 15 11h 05m 02s -03° 24’ 55” 26.29 Leo
2025 Feb 16 11h 04m 29s -03° 19’ 38” 26.29 Leo

Additional Resources