Latest Comet 378P/McNaught
Comet 378P/McNaught is currently in the constellation of Aquarius. The current Right Ascension of Comet 378P/McNaught is 23h 03m 02s and the Declination is -20° 50’ 28” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 378P/McNaught is 17.95 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Comet 378P/McNaught [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:
- 378P/McNaught is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the South-South-West direction at an altitude of 15° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 378P/McNaught is visible only through long exposure photography.
- See also 378P/McNaught rise and set times.
- 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.
Additional information about Comet 378P/McNaught available on TheSkyLive:
Comet 378P/McNaught Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet 378P/McNaught 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.
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
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Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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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 578,307,231 kilometers, equivalent to 3.865745 Astronomical Units. Light takes 32 minutes and 9.0253 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 January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 378P/McNaught to Earth happens on Fri Jul 11 2036 at a distance of 2.340039 Astronomical Units, or 350,064,814 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 378P/McNaught brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 378P/McNaught is 17.95.
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 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.
Comet 378P/McNaught rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 378P/McNaught rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 378P/McNaught touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet 378P/McNaught Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 378P/McNaught at epoch 18 February 2010 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455246.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.46659526 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 19.16795249° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 3.36596411 AU 503,541,065 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
9.25471164 AU 1,384,485,157 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
6.31033787 AU 944,013,111 km |
| Orbital period | period |
15.8500 years 5,789.9838 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2004-Dec-28 19:12:07 2,453,368.3001 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2020-Nov-04 18:48 2,459,158.2839 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 194.89721551627° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 94.605911894394° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 116.77959677353° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.06217634°/day |
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!
View Comet 378P/McNaught in the 3D Solar System Simulator
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Apr 29 | 22h 54m 42s | -21° 03’ 14” | 17.98 | Aquarius |
| 2021 Apr 30 | 22h 55m 51s | -21° 01’ 15” | 17.97 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 01 | 22h 57m 01s | -20° 59’ 22” | 17.97 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 02 | 22h 58m 09s | -20° 57’ 33” | 17.96 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 03 | 22h 59m 17s | -20° 55’ 49” | 17.96 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 04 | 23h 00m 24s | -20° 54’ 07” | 17.95 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 05 | 23h 01m 31s | -20° 52’ 32” | 17.95 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 06 | 23h 02m 36s | -20° 51’ 02” | 17.95 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 07 | 23h 03m 42s | -20° 49’ 35” | 17.94 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 08 | 23h 04m 47s | -20° 48’ 14” | 17.94 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 09 | 23h 05m 52s | -20° 46’ 58” | 17.93 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 10 | 23h 06m 56s | -20° 45’ 46” | 17.93 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 11 | 23h 07m 59s | -20° 44’ 39” | 17.92 | Aquarius |
| 2021 May 12 | 23h 09m 02s | -20° 43’ 38” | 17.92 | Aquarius |