Comet 378P/McNaught

Comet 378P/McNaught is currently in the constellation of Taurus. The current Right Ascension of Comet 378P/McNaught is 03h 53m 01s and the Declination is +04° 50’ 47” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 378P/McNaught is 19.79 (JPL).

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.

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 378P/McNaught from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 378P/McNaught?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 378P/McNaught from Earth?)
• When does Comet 378P/McNaught rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 378P/McNaught?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 378P/McNaught orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 378P/McNaught with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 378P/McNaught for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 378P/McNaught in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 378P/McNaught with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 378P/McNaught is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 378P/McNaught?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 378P/McNaught in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 378P/McNaught Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 378P/McNaught from Earth is currently 871,068,427 kilometers, equivalent to 5.822733 Astronomical Units. Light takes 48 minutes and 25.5715 seconds to travel from Comet 378P/McNaught and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 378P/McNaught 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.

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 378P/McNaught from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 378P/McNaught to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 378P/McNaught to Earth happens on Fri Jul 11 2036 at a distance of 2.340041 Astronomical Units, or 350,065,212 kilometers:

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

Comet 378P/McNaught Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 378P/McNaught, 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.

Visualization of Comet 378P/McNaught Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 378P/McNaught with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 378P/McNaught 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!

Comet 378P/McNaught 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 378P/McNaught computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 378P/McNaught in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 Sep 26	03h 54m 29s	+05° 03’ 27”	19.81	Taurus
2023 Sep 27	03h 54m 20s	+05° 01’ 45”	19.80	Taurus
2023 Sep 28	03h 54m 08s	+05° 00’ 02”	19.80	Taurus
2023 Sep 29	03h 53m 57s	+04° 58’ 18”	19.80	Taurus
2023 Sep 30	03h 53m 45s	+04° 56’ 35”	19.80	Taurus
2023 Oct 01	03h 53m 33s	+04° 54’ 50”	19.80	Taurus
2023 Oct 02	03h 53m 20s	+04° 53’ 04”	19.79	Taurus
2023 Oct 03	03h 53m 05s	+04° 51’ 20”	19.79	Taurus
2023 Oct 04	03h 52m 50s	+04° 49’ 35”	19.79	Taurus
2023 Oct 05	03h 52m 36s	+04° 47’ 48”	19.79	Taurus
2023 Oct 06	03h 52m 21s	+04° 46’ 04”	19.78	Taurus
2023 Oct 07	03h 52m 05s	+04° 44’ 17”	19.78	Taurus
2023 Oct 08	03h 51m 47s	+04° 42’ 32”	19.78	Taurus
2023 Oct 09	03h 51m 30s	+04° 40’ 46”	19.78	Taurus