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Comets » 

Comet 34D/Gale (Lost)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 14:26 | Tran: 23:21 | Set: 8:21
Alt: 43.59°   Az: 96.48°   Direction: East

Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) is in the constellation of Cancer, at a distance of 630,281,261.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 09h 14m 38s and the Declination is +29° 14’ 45” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) is 27.85 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) in Cancer on February, 17 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) in Cancer on February, 17 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

34D/Gale (Lost)
RA: 09h 13m 09s
Dec: +29° 21’ 02”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 34D/Gale (Lost). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 34D/Gale (Lost)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

09h 14m 38s
+29° 14’ 45”
20h 17m 44s
05h 32m 22s

J2000

09h 13m 09s
+29° 21’ 02”

Additional Information

Cancer
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
27.85

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 34D/Gale (Lost) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 60.8°
Max altitude: 67.8°
Azimuth: 299.2°
  • 34D/Gale (Lost) is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the East direction at an altitude of 43.59° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 34D/Gale (Lost) 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 34D/Gale (Lost) from Earth is currently 630,281,261.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.2131700007 Astronomical Units. Light takes 35m 2.392s to travel from Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) and arrive to us.

630,281,261.0
4.2131700007
35m 2.392s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) 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 34D/Gale (Lost) 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 34D/Gale (Lost) 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 34D/Gale (Lost) to Earth happens on Fri Jun 5 2071 at a distance of 0.288714 Astronomical Units, or 43,191,074 kilometers:

Fri Jun 5 2071
43,191,074
0.288714

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 34D/Gale (Lost), 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 34D/Gale (Lost) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) at epoch 01 January 1970 00:00 UTC (JD: 2429080.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.76071900
Orbit inclination i 11.72810000°
Perihelion distance q 1.18290700 AU
176,960,369 km
Aphelion distance Q 8.70427170 AU
1,302,140,515 km
Semi-major axis a 4.94358930 AU
739,550,434 km
Orbital period period 11.0000 years
4,017.7500 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 1938-Jun-18 11:35:48
2,429,067.9832 JD
Next perihelion transit 1949-Jun-18 05:35
2,433,085.7332 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 209.1572°
Longitude of the ascending node node 67.9235°
Mean anomaly M 1.1223642°
Mean motion n 0.08966860°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 34D/Gale (Lost)
View Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 34D/Gale (Lost) 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 10 09h 20m 25s +28° 52’ 14” 27.94 Cancer
2025 Feb 11 09h 19m 40s +28° 55’ 22” 27.93 Cancer
2025 Feb 12 09h 18m 56s +28° 58’ 26” 27.92 Cancer
2025 Feb 13 09h 18m 11s +29° 01’ 26” 27.90 Cancer
2025 Feb 14 09h 17m 27s +29° 04’ 20” 27.89 Cancer
2025 Feb 15 09h 16m 42s +29° 07’ 11” 27.88 Cancer
2025 Feb 16 09h 15m 58s +29° 09’ 56” 27.87 Cancer
2025 Feb 17 09h 15m 14s +29° 12’ 37” 27.86 Cancer
2025 Feb 18 09h 14m 30s +29° 15’ 13” 27.85 Cancer
2025 Feb 19 09h 13m 46s +29° 17’ 43” 27.84 Cancer
2025 Feb 20 09h 13m 03s +29° 20’ 09” 27.83 Cancer
2025 Feb 21 09h 12m 20s +29° 22’ 29” 27.82 Cancer
2025 Feb 22 09h 11m 37s +29° 24’ 44” 27.81 Cancer
2025 Feb 23 09h 10m 54s +29° 26’ 53” 27.80 Cancer

Additional Resources